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IN  MEMORIAM 


William  Thaw 


BORN  IN  PITTSBURGH,  PENNSYLVANIA, 
October  12,  1818. 


DIED  IN  PARIS,  FRANCE, 
August  17,  1889. 


Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law  of  Christ. 


Printed  by  Jos.  Eichbaum  &  Co. 
Pittsburgh. 

1891. 


[When  collecting  the  material  for  this  Memorial,  in  some  unaccountable  manner 
this  excellent  article  was  overlooked.  It  was  written  by  Rev.  E.  P.  Cowan,  D.  D.,  Mr. 
Thaw's  pastor,  at  the  request  of  the  editors  of  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  and 
appeared  in  that  magazine  December,  1889.  The  editors,  in  an  introductory  note, 
write  :  "We  are  publishing  a  series  of  articles  on  '  The  Ministry  of  Money.'  We  place 
this  in  the  series,  profoundly  sensible  of  the  power  of  such  an  example."  It  is  given 
here  in  a  somewhat  abridged  form,  the  portions  omitted  are  mainly  what  had  been  said 
by  others,  and  the  aim  is  not  to  repeat,  either  in  the  body  of  the  Memoir,  or  this  sup- 
plement.] M-  c-  T- 

The  late  William  Thaw,  who  was  for  forty -eight  years  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  besides 
leaving  to  each  member  of  his  large  family  an  ample  fortune,  and  be- 
queathing hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  various  colleges,  hos- 
pitals, homes,  boards,  associations,  relatives,  and  individual  friends, 
left  also  to  each  and  all  of  us  one  of  the  richest  legacies  the  Christian 
Church  has  ever  received. 

This  legacy  we  may  avail  ourselves  of  immediately  if  we  like;  or, 
we  may  decline  to  receive  it  altogether.  If  we  decline  it,  we  shall  be  the 
losers.  If  we  accept,  it  can  be  made  to  yield  untold  blessings,  not  only 
to  ourselves,  but  to  generations  yet  unborn.  This  legacy  I  need  hardly 
say,  is  the  noble  example  left  us  in  the  record  of  his  magnificent  life. 

Pittsburghers  had  been  so  long  familiar  with  his  phenomenal  course, 
that  while  he  was  yet  with  us,  we  hardly  realized  to  the  full  extent  how 
great  and  good  he  really  was;  but  when  oh  that  sad  17th  of  August  the 
black  headline  of  an  evening  paper  sent  an  inexpressible  pain  to  all  our 
hearts  with  the  startling  announcement,  'William  Thaw  dead!'  all 
were  rudely  awakened  to  the  fact  that  Pittsburgh  had  lost  her  foremost 
citizen,  and  the  Church  of  Christ  one  of  its  staunchest  friends  and 
strongest  supporters.  The  power  of  his  life  was  strikingly  revealed 
in  the  deep  feeling  of  sorrow  evoked  from  the  heart  of  this  great 
city,  by  the  announcement  of  his  death.  The  loss  of  no  one  man  in 
all  this  region  has  ever  caused  as  many  genuine  tears  of  grief  to  flow,  as 
did  the  death  of  William  Thaw.  When  his  remains,  brought  back  to 
his  native  land  and  city,  in  the  same  steamer  that  had  carried  him  across 


only  six  weeks  before,  lay  in  state  in  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church 
from  10  a.  m.  to  1  P.  M.,  it  is  estimated  that  over  five  thousand  people 
of  all  grades  in  life  came  to  look  once  more  and  for  the  last  time  upon 
his  strong  but  kindly  face.  *  *  * 

And  why,  some  one  may  ask,  was  this  unusual  expression  of  sorrow 
over  the  death  of  this  one  man?  He  was  rich,  it  is  true  ;  but  we  have 
all  seen  rich  meu  die  with  scarcely  a  sincere  mourner  to  follow  them  to 
their  graves.  He  was  intellectually  brilliant.  He  had  a  mind  as  clear 
as  a  sunbeam,  and  his  apprehension  of  things  was  marvelously  quick  and 
confident.  He  had  within  him  all  those  elements  which,  had  they  been 
unsanctified,  would  have  put  most  men  at  his  mercy.  With  his  power 
to  acquire,  coupled  with  his  indomitable  will,  he  could  easily  have 
become  a  most  powerful  oppressor  of  the  poor.  But  he  was  just  the 
opposite.  He  had  taken  his  lesson  of  life  from  the  great  Teacher  of 
men.  His  heart  had  been  touched  by  divine  grace.  He  aimed  to  be 
like  his  Master,  and  hence  his  heart  overflowed  with  love  for  humanity. 
He  was  a  friend  to  the  friendless.  He  strove  to  raise  up  those  that  were 
bowed  down,  and  to  deliver  the  oppressed  from  their  oppressions.  He 
went  about  doing  good;  and  so  he  drew  irresistibly  toward  him  all 
whose  lives  in  auy  way  came  in  contact  with  his  own. 

The  story  of  the  giving  of  his  means  for  the  relief  of  suffering,  for 
the  advancement  of  truth,  for  the  bettering  of  the  condition  of  his  fellow 
men,  should  be  told  far  and  wide,  that  others  endowed  with  wealth  may 
learn  the  secret  of  enjoying  their  money,  and  at  the  same  time  advancing 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  world.  Think  of  a  busy  man  with  vast 
interests  involving  many  millions  always  on  his  mind,  who  could  spend 
a  large  part  of  every  morning  of  his  life  (except  the  Sabbath)  in  minis- 
tering to  the  wants  of  others.  It  has  been  truly  said,  that  he  seemed 
to   work    harder    in    giving  his  money  away  than   he  did  in   earning 

Did  he  consider  himself  overrun  with  applicants  for  aid?  Well, 
one  would  think  so  until  some  day  he  joined  the  throng  and  himself 
presented  the  case  of  some  worthy  object;  then  the  illusion  would  be 
dispelled,  and  the  applicant  as  he  left  would  almost  feel  that  he  had  done 
the  man  a  favor  in  coming.  Indeed,  I  have  known  it  to  be  the  case  that 
when  some  committee  came  to  him  representing  some  cause  that 
especially  commended  itself  to  him,  he   not   only  responded  quickly, 


liberally,  cheerfully,  but  afterwards  would  say  to  the  greatly  astonished 
applicants,  '  I  am  really  obliged  to  you  for  giving  me  the  opportunity  of 
helping  so  good  a  cause.' 

Not  satisfied  with  attending  to  those  who  came  voluntarily  to  him, 
he  would  frequently  write  or  send  word  to  those  whom  he  had  learned 
were  involved  in  some  special  trouble,  that  he  would  like  to  have  them 
come  and  see  him.  He  kept  himself  informed  as  to  public  needs,  and 
volunteered  aid  often  before  it  was  asked  for.  He  was  well  posted  as  to 
all  the  agencies  for  doing  good  in  all  the  different  churches,  but  he  by 
no  means  neglected  his  own.  He  gave  liberally  to  all  the  Boards  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  through  his  church  collections,  and  with  direct 
contributions.  If  any  collections  were  taken  up  in  his  own  church 
when  he  was  absent,  he  always  wanted  his  pastor  to  let  him  know;  and 
a  note  to  that  effect  always  brought  by  return  mail  his  liberal  check  in 
response.  But  it  is  needless  to  write  more  concerning  the  almost  bound- 
less benevolence  of  this  rare  man.  He  was  consecrated  to  the  minis- 
try of  giving  as  truly  and  as  religiously  as  was  ever  any  preacher  of  the 
gospel  consecrated  to  his  work,  and  in  this  ministry  he  found  his  high- 
est employment  and  his  supremest  pleasure.  If  any  one  would  study 
this  life  and  catch  inspiration  from  this  noble  example,  let  him  remem- 
ber these  main  features : 

1.  Mr.  Thaw  began  giving  on  principle,  and  systematically,  when 
a  comparatively  poor  man.  He  was  sometimes  heard  to  say  that  his 
first  subscription  to  some  benevolent  operations  in  his  own  church  was 
three  dollars  a  month.  Then  he  would  smile,  and  say,  'That  seemed 
small,  but  it  amounted  to  $36  a  year.'  Having  begun  on  this  plan  he 
simply  kept  it  up.  He  saw  no  reason  why,  after  God  bad  prospered  him, 
he  should  give  any  less  in  proportion  than  he  did  before  such  prosperity 
came  to  him.  Giving  had  become  a  well  formed  habit  with  him,  and 
when  his  means  were  enlarged,  if  he  made  any  change  at  all,  it  was  more 
likely  an  increase  in  the  proportion  than  otherwise. 

2.  Regarding  part  of  his  possessions  as  already  consecrated  to  God, 
he  did  not  have  to  go  continually  through  the  act,  and,  with  some  men, 
the  struggle  of  giving.  He  regarded  himself  as  God's  steward  in 
the  matter,  and  felt  only  anxious  that  he  should  faithfully  and  wisely 
distribute  what  he  already  considered  as  belonging  to  the  Lord.  He 
had  consequently  all    the  joy  of  giving,  with   none  of  that   lingering 


regret  which   some  men  feel  at  parting  with  what  passes  for  a  generous 
contribution. 

3.  He  gave  with  the  purest  and  highest  motives.  He  resisted  all 
attempts  to  have  his  name  connected  with  his  benefactions.  Thaw  uni- 
versities, colleges,  halls,  homes,  chairs,  libraries,  etc.,  could  have 
been  (lotted  all  over  this  land  with  his  money  had  he  so  allowed  it,  and 
there  would  have  been  no  harm  in  it;  but  this  was  not  his  idea.  It  was 
God's  money  he  was  disbursing.  He  gave  for  God's  sake,  and  for 
humanity's  sake — not  for  his  own.  His  reward  was  in  giving;  not  in 
having  people  know  that  he  gave.  It  was  these  three  elements  in  his 
giving  that  mule  it  to  him  a  constant  pleasure.  As  a  conse- 
quence, since  he  was  always  giving  he  was  always  happy.  He  was  a 
thoroughly  religions  man.  but  he  was  singularly  free  from  religious 
cant.  lie  had  the  reputation  of  being  able  to  get  angry  under  just  prov- 
ocation. There  was  good  metal  in  his  makeup;  and  indeed  so  strong  a 
character  as  his  was,  would  have  been  defective  had  it  lacked  the  power, 
in  this  bad  world,  of  at  times  feeling  and  expressing  a  just  indignation. 
When  he  took  his  stand  he  was  as  firm  as  a  rock.  He  could  refuse  an 
applicant  for  aid  and  refuse  quickly,  too,  and  decidedly;  yet  his  heart 
was  so  overflowing  with  benevolence  that  it  had  generally  to  be  a 
desperately  bad  cause  to  compel  him  to  forego  the  pleasure  of  giving. 
In  all  my  intercourse  with  him  in  his  home  and  elsewhere,  I  am  sure 
I  never  saw  him  in  any  other  than  the  best  of  humors.  He  impressed 
me  as  being  singularly  buoyant  in  spirit.  Conscious  each  day  of  having 
made  others  happy,  he  could  but  be  happy  himself.  He  believed  with 
all  his  heart,  and  knew  by  a  rich  experience,  ten  thousand  times  repeated, 
that  it  was  indeed  'more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'  A  grander, 
happier,  more  useful  life  than  this  I  know  not  of.  Shall  not  we  accept 
the  legacy  he  has  given  ns  ?  Is  not  such  a  life  a  study  for  us  all; 
especially  for  those  whom  God  has  blessed  with  an  abundance  of  this 
world's  goods '.' 


WILLIAM    THAW. 

When  a  whole  city  mourns,  when  rich  and  poor, 
Partaking  of  one  common  sorrow,  grieves, 
There  needs  no  words  to  tell  how  well  was  spent 
The  life  whose  actions  such  sweet  fragrance  leaves; 
When  long  the  path  where  three  score  years  and  ten 
Has  run  a  life  whose  close  a  multitude  regret, 
For  whose  cessation  eyes  unused  to  tears  are  wet, 
Such  flowers  of  charity  his  steps  attend, 
For  whom  the  widow  and  the  orphan  moan, 
And  from  the  byways  and  the  crowded  street, 
Where'er  men  congregate,  or  hap'ning  meet, 
Where'er  his  tender  heart,  and  deeds,  are  known, 
One  common  voice  laments  his  life-time's  end, 
Who  to  all  men  alike  a  brother  was  and  friend. 


How  well  that  life  was  spent  no  tongue  need  say — 

Whose  end  the  palace  and  the  hovel  mourn — 

When  daily  to  the  indigent  was  borne 

His  bounties  numerous  from  day  to  day. 

Though  given  not  to  avarice  his  heart, 

Of  this  world's  goods  drew  in  a  plenteous  part, 

Yet  no  man's  envy  had,  in  that  he  made 

Himself  "Our  Father's"  almoner  to  aid 

The  poor  and  sick,  and  all  in  need ; 

Nor  held  himself  aloof  in  pride  austere 

Of  wealth  from  fellow  men  ;  but  to  their  words, 

Whate'er  their  plea,  inclined  a  willing  ear; 

And  lived  a  life  so  grand  and  good,  I  would 

That  all  men  held  with  men  such  brotherhood. 


No  grander  record  of  an  active  life, 

When  done  is  all  its  triumphs  and  its  pains, 

When  ended  all  its  rivalries  and  strife, 

Than  such  a  monument,  O  friend,  remains 

As  thou  has  built  in  memories  of  men, 

In  hearts  of  all  the  friendless  sick  and  poor. 

So  no  men  envy  thee  thy  wealth,  in  that 

No  burdened  soul  went  helpless  from  thy  door. 

Nor  church,  nor  hospital,  whate'er  its  creed, 

But  had  thy  succor  in  its  time  of  need. 

Behold  my  servant  Job,  the  Almighty  said — 

A  perfect  and  an  upright  man. 

Can  we  not  trust  that  this  all-seeing  God 

Beheld  thee,  too,  and  all  the  doings  of  thy  hand  ? 

Sometimes  we  question,  in  our  hours  of  doubt, 

What  good  the  lives  of  men  have  been  or  be, 

What  better  is  the  world  that  they  have  lived. 

No  doubter  questions  that,  dead  friend,  of  thee. 

Thy  bounties  reached  not  only  sick  and  poor, 

Where  halls  of  learning,  Science  temples  stand, 

Thy  will  and  means  inspired,  thy  brain  controlled, 

Great  enterprises  that  enriched  the  land, 

And  showed  the  world  how  rightly  used  large  wealth 

In  hands  of  noble  men,  unselfish,  great, 

Debases  not,  nor  yet  oppression  makes, 

But  benefits  alike  the  masses  and  the  State; 

Thy  memory  leaves  like  statue  towering  grand 

On  some  high  mountain  peak  that  overlooks  the  land. 

These  verses  were  written  by  an  old  friend  of  Mr.  Thaw's,  the 
day  the  news  of  his  death  was  received  in  his  own  city  of  Pittsburgh, 
and  appeared  in  the  Gazette  in  the  same  form  in  which  they  are  now 
given.  In  reading  them  one  can  comprehend  somewhat  the  feeling 
which  stirred  the  whole  community  on  that  beautiful  morning  of 
August  17th,  1889.  And  if  the  outside  world  so  grieved,  those  only 
who   have   passed   through   a   similar  experience   can   realize   what    it 

4 


Rev.  D.  H. 

Riddle, 
Commercial 

Gazette, 

August  28, 

1889. 


meant  to  those  nearest  and  dearest  to  him,  when,  without  the  least 
preparation,  with  no  previous  word  of  his  illness — came  the  crushing 
message:  "Father  died  this  morning  at  ten  o'clock,  of  heart  failure." 

The  story  is  like  so  many  others.  A  little  overexertion  ;  unusual 
weariness,  and  a  slight  chill ;  followed  by  severe,  but  not  alarming  ill- 
ness— with  no  apprehension  of  a  fatal  termination  until  the  last  morn- 
ing, when  it  was  too  late  to  do  more  than  send  to  those  at  home  the 
words  quoted  above,  and  the  brief  particulars,  which  meant  so  little 
compared  with  the  momentous,  irrevocable  fact. 

The  lines  given  below  were  written  by  Rev.  David  Riddle,  son  of 
Mr.  Thaw's  former  pastor,  and  well  express  the  feelings  of  many 
besides  the  writer. 

And  has  it  failed,  that  heart  so  strong  and  tender, 

Where  fears  were  hushed  and  sheltered  loved  ones  lay  ? 

That  brain,  which  flashed  its  thought,  did  it  surrender 
To  mortal  weariness  and  death's  decay  ? 

O  liberal  heart!  O  hand!  whose  princely  giving 

Spread  as  the  river,  secret  as  its  source, 
To  give,  not  get,  was  most  thy  joy  in  living, 

Thy  passion  to  fling  largess  in  thy  course. 

O  monumental  life!  for  years  uplifted 

Above  the  mass  with  whom  we  had  to  do — 
Straight  man  for  crooked  times,  clear,  strong  and  gifted 

To  show  on  four  fair  sides  things  just  and  true. 

Not  truth  alone,  but  grace  and  beauty  mingled. 

Lilies  were  carved  about  that  pillared  strength, 
Men  show  not  man  full-orbed  ;  and  so  God  singled 

This  massive,  mature  gentleman  at  length. 


And  is  he  dead,  this  good  man  and  great  hearted 
Man's  benefactor,  and  our  father's  friend  ? 

And  must  we  count  him  among  the  departed? 
Shall  we  write  now  o'er  such  a  life — the  end? 


Not  so.     Life's  slender  silver  cord  is  broken, 
The  golden  bowl  we  quaffed  in  fragments  lies, 

But  other- where  the  fountain  flows  in  token 
The  body  failed,  the  true  life  never  dies. 

The  darkly-laden  ship  through  sad  seas  sailing, 

Bears  fast  his  body  to  these  lonely  shores, 
But  far-off  isles  the  soul's  white  sails  are  hailing, 

And  unknown  ports  receive  its  precious  stores. 

O  homes  so  long  enriched,  now  desolated, 

O  dusky  city  by  the  confluent  streams, 
Know  that  the  grand,  good  life  has  not  abated  : 

He  knows,  serves,  loves  beyond  our  fullest  dreams. 

Just  as  he  wished,  and  as  it  well  became  him, 
In  ripest  manhood,  and  with  powers  still  rife, 

No  flaws  to  mar,  no  weaknesses  to  shame  him, 
He  quickly  passed  from  this  to  God's  next  life. 

On  Pisgah  tops  of  time  he  stood  reviewing 
The  ages  past  whose  triumphs  he  part  planned, 

With  cheerful  front  looked  on  to  the  ensuing, 

But  went  from  earth's  to  heaven's  promised  land. 

He  had  gone  away,  for  rest  and  recuperation,  and  that  he  might 
revisit  places  of  interest  in  the  old  world.  He  did  not  go,  as  many 
were  led  to  suppose,  in  search  of  health,  for  he  had  fully  recovered 
from  the  illness  of  the  early  spring,  and  he  had  planned  the  trip 
before  that  illness  came  upon  him.  All  rejoiced  that  for  a  time  he  was 
free  from  the  cares  which  seemed  only  to  increase  as  the  years  went  on. 
And  thus  there  was  added  to  the  sorrow  for  the  loss,  the  bitter  thought 
that  he  had  died  so  far  from  home  and  country,  and  separated  from 
most  of  those  who  would  have  ministered  to  him  in  his  last  hours. 
Only  such  recollections  as  these :  "  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are 
ordered  by  the  Lord,"  and  "  The  Lord  is  not  far  from  them  that  fear 
him,"  made  it  possible  to  understand  this  dark  Providence.  Then 
followed  the  long  days  of  waiting,  while  the  noble  steamer,  The  City  of 


Paris,  in  which  he  had  felt  so  much  pride  and  interest,  bore  to  these 
shores  him  she  had  carried  away  only  six  weeks  before. 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  in  this  volume  more  than  brief  extracts 
from  the  mass  of  newspaper  sketches  and  tributes,  neither  all  the 
verses  prompted  by  affectionate  regard.  It  is  not  necessary.  All 
through  his  life  he  was  "  a  living  epistle,  known  and  read  of  all  men," 
and  his  memory  is  cherished  by  thousands  to  whom  his  ready,  timely 
help  was  given,  as  well  as  by  those  who  enjoyed  the  greater  privilege 
of  calling  him  friend. 

No  greater  mistake  could  be  made  than  to  suppose  his  life  of 
service  for  others  cost  him  nothing  but  money.  None  will  ever  fully 
know  the  infinite  patience  with  which  he  bore  the  infirmities  and  weak- 
nesses of  his  fellow  creatures,  and  how,  while  burdened  with  cares  of 
business,  and  plans  and  thoughts  for  greater  things,  he  yet  could  drop 
these  and  listen,  and,  as  well  as  the  circumstances  would  allow,  try  to 
ascertain  the  merits  of  each  case,  and  act  accordingly.  Fully  conscious 
that  he  was  often  deceived,  he  still,  without  becoming  hardened, 
patiently  endured  to  the  end. 

If  there  was  one  form  of  benevolence  his  heart  delighted  in  more 
than  another,  it  was  that  of  providing  means  to  secure  higher  education 
for  those  who  seemed  worthy  of  it ;  and  he  frequently  referred  to  it  as 
"  putting  tools  into  the  hands  of  young  people  with  which  they  could 
carve  their  own  fortunes."  And  most  costly  tools  they  were;  for,  not 
content  with  merely  providing  for  the  tuition  of  such,  he  was  ever 
ready  to  furnish  means  for  all  the  accessories  of  such  a  career — money 
for  boarding,  clothing,  traveling,  lectures,  etc.,  fairly  bewildering  the 
recipients,  often,  by  the  lavishness  with  which  benefits  were  showered 
upon  them.  In  addition  to  this  he  found  time  to  write  letters  of 
counsel,  kindly  criticism,  and  encouragement,  often  beyond  what  was 
deserved  ;  taking,  for  the  time,  the  place  of  guardian  and  father,  to 
many,  who,  after  his  death,  equally  lamented  the  loss  of  the  pecuniary 
help,  and  of  the  encouragement  given  so  freely.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
sometimes  he  was  deceived,  even  by  those  he  had  felt  most  interest  in. 
Yet  how  many  there  are  now  occupying  places  of  trust  and  responsi- 
bility, successful  in  every  way,  who,  but  for  the  ready  aid  of  Mr. 
Thaw,  might  have  struggled  for  years  to  reach  what  was  theirs,  liter- 
ally,  "  for  the  asking."      Surely  such  owe  a  duty  toward  their  less 


favored    fellows,    infinitely    beyond    the    responsibility    of    the    self- 
supporting. 

But  the  highest  form  of  his  work  was  that  for  the  extension  of 
the  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer.  To  this  end  he  devoted  thought,  prayer 
and  means.  Fully  realizing  that  the  wealth  of  a  Christian  is  held  only 
as  a  trust,  he  lived  up  to  his  convictions  in  a  way  few  do.  The  world 
knows  of  some  of  these  gifts ;  the  record  of  most  is  only  on  high,  where 
already  he  has  received  his  Lord's  words  of  approval  and  welcome. 

With  all  the  manifold  business  in  which  he  was  engaged,  the 
wonder  has  always  been  that  he  could  find  time  for  the  immense  cor- 
respondence this  work  for  others  gave  him  to  do.  Those  familiar  with 
his  methods  understand  it.  It  was  simply  "  doing  with  his  might  what 
his  hands  found  to  do,"  and  taking  up  the  duty  which  seemed  to  lie 
nearest.  Rapidly  reading  his  large  morning  mail,  he  would  make  a 
few  notes  on  the  margin  or  back  of  each,  and  afterwards  letter  after 
letter  would  be  written  with  almost  phenomenal  rapidity;  now,  perhaps, 
to  a  college  president,  or  some  scientist;  again,  to  a  minister  or  mis- 
sionary; now  to  one  of  his  numerous  proteges  pursuing  their  studies 
in  this  country  or  abroad,  frequently  inclosing  money,  or  drafts,  to  this 
or  that  beneficiary,  or  institution.  And  he  would  labor  thus,  with  the 
continual  interruptions  of  callers,  until  almost  noon  ;  then  to  the  office, 
where  the  remainder  of  the  day  was  divided  between  business  and  a 
repetition  of  this  work  for  others,  which  very  frequently  was  not 
finished  until  in  the  evening,  at  his  own  home.  Though  often  weary 
and  worn,  he  persevered  to  the  end  in  the  course  he  had  marked  out 
for  himself,  never  "  living  to  himself  alone,"  always  ready  to  bear  the 
burdens  of  others. 

Need  more  be  said?  The  extracts  which  follow  will  show  the 
estimation  in  which  he  was  held,  and  how  he,  who,  while  living,  would 
never  allow  any  honor  to  be  conferred  upon  him,  was,  in  his  death  and 
burial,  honored  and  mourned  in  a  way  which  falls  to  the  lot  of  but  few. 

The  inner  home  life  is  not  touched  upon.  It  is  written  in  the 
hearts  of  those  to  whom  it  belongs,  and  has  no  place  in  this  volume, 
prepared,  as  it  is,  not  only  for  these,  but  for  a  much  wider  circle  of 
friends  and  acquaintances. 


Gazett 
August  19, 


[Extracts  from  the  Daily  Newspapers^* 

Pittsburgh  "Few  messages  are  freighted  with  such  grief  and  genuine  sorrow 

Commercial,  an(j  bring  sadness  to  so  many  hearts  as  the  one  that  flashed  over  the 
cable  from  the  city  of  Paris  Saturday  morning  and  told  the  city  of 
1889.        Pittsburgh  that  William  Thaw  was  dead. 

Doubly  sad  it  seemed  that  he,  whose  acts  of  charity  and  benevo- 
lence were  distributed  with  open  hand,  should  end  his  life  away  from 
the  city  that  has  cause  to  remember  his  munificence,  and  from  the 
thousands  whose  lives  have  been  brightened  and  burdens  eased  by  his 
liberality.  He  was  a  noble  man,  whose  life  was  marked  more  by  the 
use  he  made  of  his  great  wealth  than  by  the  unusual  prosperity  that 
fell  to  his  lot.  How  sadly  he  will  be  missed  the  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  weary,  toil-worn  laborers,  desolate,  sad-eyed  mothers,  and 
helpless,  forsaken  orphans  alone  can  tell.  He  was  not  the  Pharisee 
who  sounded  a  trumpet  before  him  that  all  the  world  might  witness 
his  deeds  of  charities.  He  gave  away  a  fortune  each  year  that  the 
public  never  heard  of.  He  was  frequently  the  victim  of  impostors, 
but  was  never  deterred  thereby  from  a  benevolent  action. 

In  the  ordinary  walks  of  life  he  was  modest  and  unassuming,  and, 
though  possessed  of  a  fortune,  the  extent  of  which  is  not  known,  no 
one  to  meet  him  or  to  see  him  in  his  office  or  on  the  street  would  have 
taken  him  for  anything  but  a  business  man  in  moderate  circumstances. 
He  avoided  all  display  and  ostentation.  He  could  be  approached  at 
any  time,  and  always  lent  a  willing  ear  to  the  tales  of  the  distressed. 
Through  no  effort  of  his  to  attain  it,  he  won  the  reputation  of  being 
the  philanthropist  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  when  Pittsburghers 
were  asked  to  name  the  foremost  men  of  the  city,  they  began,  without 
hesitation,  with  the  name  of  William  Thaw." 

*  These  extracts  from  the  long  newspaper  articles  are  selected  with  a  view  to 
avoiding,  as  much  as  possible,  repetition— while  preserving  the  continuity. 


Mr.  Thaw  married  in  1841  Eliza  Burd  Blair,  of  Washington, 
Pa.,  a  young  lady  of  singularly  attractive  appearance  and  disposition. 
Her  death  in  18b'2  left  him  with  five  children,  two  daughters  and  three 
sons.  In  1867  he  married  Mary  Sibbet  Copley,  daughter  of  a  life- 
long editor  and  writer,  well  known  in  this  community.  She,  with 
five  children,  likewise  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  survives  him, 
making  a  large  family  of  ten  children  living,  while  two  children  of 
each    marriage   died   in   infancy. 

"  William  Thaw  was  born  in  Pittsburgh,  October  12th,  1818,  of    Pittsburgh 
Scotch-Irish  parents.     His  great-grandfather,  John  Thaw,  was  born  in     Chronicle 
Philadelphia  in  1710,  and  died  in   1795.      Benjamin,  grandfather  of      eeg>"p' 
William  Thaw,   was  born  in  1753.     He  married   Hannah   Engle,  of       1889§ 
an  old    Philadelphia  Quaker  family,  and  died  in  1811.     One  of  their 
children  was  John  Thaw,  the  father  of  deceased. 

John  Thaw  removed  to  Pittsburgh  fourteen  years  before  the  birth 
of  William.  The  latter's  education  was  finished  in  the  Western  Uni- 
versity. He  began  business  in  1834  as  clerk  in  his  father's  bank, 
and  on  February  9th,  1835,  he  entered  the  service  of  McKee,  Clarke 
&  Co.,  forwarding  and  commission  merchants,  as  a  clerk.  In  1840 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Thos.  S.  Clarke,  his  brother-in-law,  as 
transporters  and  owners  of  steam  and  canal  boats,  which  continued 
until  1855. 

During  these  years  the  canal  system  was  the  great  channel  of  com- 
munication between  the  East  and  the  West.  This  had  been  suggested 
as  early  as  1792,  but  the  links  in  the  chain  were  not  connected  until 
the  fall  of  1834,  when  the  Philadelphia  and  Columbia  road  and  the 
Allegheny  Portage  road  were  completed,  making,  with  the  canal,  a 
through  line  between  Pittsburgh  and  Philadelphia.  This  means  of 
communication  gave  a  wonderful  impetus  to  Pittsburgh,  and  the 
business  of  furnishing  transportation  became  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant lines  of  enterprise.  Clarke  &  Thaw  owned  and  controlled 
the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  line,  and  held  their  own.  The  advent 
of  steam  revolutionized  trade  and  commerce.  The  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  had  its  beginning  August  13th,  1846,  the  last  division  was 
opened  February  loth,  1854,  and  the  subsequent  purchase  of  the  Phil- 
adelphia and  Columbia  road  gave  the  Pennsylvania  Company  through 

10 


communication  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh,  and,  of  course,  put  an 

end  to  the  canals. 

Recognizing  the  inevitable  result  of  the  contest,  Mr.  Thaw  gave 
himself  to  the  task  of  disposing  of  their  transportation  lines,  including 
both  the  canal  equipment  and  their  large  interests  in  the  great  packets, 
which  formed  the  daily  line  between  Pittsburgh  and  Cincinnati,  with 
the  least  possible  loss,  and  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  new  system. 
In  1856  he  joined  his  former  partner,  Thomas  S.  Clarke,  who  had  the 
previous  year  undertaken  the  conduct  of  the  freight  traffic  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  west  of  Pittsburgh.  At  this  time  there  was  no 
system  of  through  bills  of  lading,  and  through  cars  such  as  now  prevails, 
and  each  road  worked  independently.  The  whole  business  of  freight 
transportation  was  in  almost  a  chaotic  state,  and  the  expense  was  tre- 
mendous. About  1864,  gentlemen  interested  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company  devised  a  system  of  through  transportation  over 
different  lines,  and  the  Star  Union  Line  was  the  result.  Of  this 
Mr.  Thaw  had  charge  until  1873,  and  is  entitled  to  a  large  share  of 
the  credit  of  evolving  the  system,  although,  with  characteristic 
modesty,  he  always  said  his  labor  was  shared  with  others,  and  that 
the  system  grew  of  itself,  and  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  situation. 

The  Pennsylvania  Company  was  chartered  April  7th,  1870,  for 
the  purpose  of  managing,  in  the  interest  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company,  which  owns  all  the  stock  of  the  former  company,  the  roads 
controlled  by  the  latter  west  of  Pittsburgh.  The  importance  of  this 
company  raav  be  estimated  when  one  looks  at  the  list  of  lines  concen- 
trated under  this  system.  Among  them  are  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort 
Wayne  &  Chicago,  the  Erie  &  Pittsburgh,  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh 
and  its  branches,  the  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  &  St.  Louis,  the  Chicago, 
St.  Louis  &  Pittsburgh,  the  Cincinnati  &  Muskingum  Valley,  the 
Little  Miami,  the  St.  Louis,  Vandalia  &  Terre  Haute,  the  Grand 
Rapids  &  Indiana,  and  many  others. 

Mr.  Thaw  was  a  director  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company, 
Second  Vice  President  of  the  Pennsylvania  Company,  and  Second  Vice 
President  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  &  St.  Louis  Railroad.  Since 
1873  he  had  been  relieved  of  most  of  the  duties  connected  with  the 
transportation  department,  and  had  given  his  attention  to  the  internal 
and  financial  affairs  of  the  company. 


11 


Mr.  Thaw  had  been  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Third  Pres- 
byterian Church.  Me  was  a  corporator  and  manager  of  the  Allegheny 
Cemetery.  He  was  an  earnest  and  generous  friend  of  the  Allegheny 
Observatory,  and  to  his  liberality  that  institution  is  largely  indebted 
for  the  financial  help  that  has  enabled  it  to  prosecute  its  work.  It 
was  through  his  aid  that  the  expedition  of  Prof.  Langley  to  Mt. 
Whitney  in  Southern  California,  some  years  ago,  was  made  possible. 

Mentally  Mr.  Thaw  was  among  the  foremost  men  of  the  State; 
gifted  with  a  high  order  of  intelligence,  strengthened  by  liberal  culture 
and  years  of  study  and  observation.  He  was  an  excellent  judge  of 
men,  and  quick  to  detect  sham  and  pretense.  His  reasonings,  based 
upon  convictions  of  right  and  duty,  were  never  degraded  to  the  service 
of  expediency  or  mendacity.  Impetuous  and  persistent,  he  was  also 
cautious.  Broad  in  his  views,  buoyant  in  disposition,  honest,  sincere 
and  self-reliant,  strictly  upright  iu  all  his  transactions,  he  worthily 
won  and  held  a  high  position  in  the  esteem  and  affection  of  all  who 
knew  him.  His  sympathies  and  benefactions  were  bounded  neither 
by  creed  nor  prejudice,  and  it  may  be  truthfully  said,  that  the  world 
is  the  better^for  his  having  lived  in  it." 

"  By  the  death  of  William  Thaw,  Pittsburgh  loses  one  of  its  best     Editorial, 

citizens,  who  was  honored  and  respected  wherever  he  was  known.     He        „  ep 
•11    i  i  -rress, 

will  be   remembered  gratefully  and  kindly  by  thousands,  for  he  was  a    August  18 

philanthropist  upon  whose  ear  no  cry  of  distress  ever  fell  unheeded.  1889. 
His  benefactions,  covering  the  period  of  an  average  life-time,  recognized 
no  distinction  of  race  or  religion.  Endowed  with  great  wealth,  he  ap- 
preciated its  power  for  good  ;  and  art,  science  and  religion  profited  by 
his  gifts.  Whatever  honors  may  be  paid  to  his  memory,  his  greatest 
and  most  enduring  monument  will  be  the  deeds  of  charity  and  mercy 
which  he  so  unostentatiously  performed." 

"  William  Thaw  was  a  representative  of  what  is  best  iu  Pittsburgh's    Pittsburgh 

conservatism,  for  which  our  city  has  something  of  a  reputation,  as  well  tj 

/>       i  •  i  f  •      t-»-      i  i  i  s-^  ■>  August  19, 

as  of   what  is  most  beneficent  in  Pittsburgh  s   progress.     Of    an   old        2889 

Philadelphia  family,  that  settled  in  Pittsburgh  in  1804,  his  business 
training  came  in  the  days  when  steam  and  canal  boats,  the  stage- 
coach and  Conestoga  wagon,  were  the  means  of  internal  communication 

12 


Pittsburgh. 


and  commerce.  When  the  completion  of  the  railroads  east  and  west 
revolutionized  all  this,  Mr.  Thaw  grappled  the  new  condition,  enlisted 
in  its  service,  and  stimulated  its  progress,  so  that  he  became  an  authority 
and  leader,  devising  most  important  systems  in  the  perfection  of  railway 
communication.  His  large  fortune  was  used  in  a  public  way  to  promote 
educational  and  benevolent  enterprises,  but  his  private  charities  were 
profuse,  and  lent  a  helping  hand  to  hundreds  and  thousands.  It  is  no 
idle  talk,  but  the  soberest  of  truth,  to  say  that  Pittsburgh  never  had  a 
citizen  who  did  such  noble,  practical  and  liberal  work  in  aiding  scien- 
tific and  educational  enterprises,  in  promoting  business  prosperity, 
in  maintaining  business  and  municipal  integrity,  and  in  furthering 
charities  and  benevolence,  irrespective  of  race  or  creed,  as  William 
Thaw." 

Presbyterian  "  Mr.  Thaw  was  a  man  of  muscular  frame,  quick  in  movement, 

Banner,  aiK]  capable  of  great  endurance.  In  intellect  he  was  almost  without 
a  superior.  His  countenance  indicated  the  power  of  thought  and 
the  strength  of  will  with  which  he  was  endowed.  Notwithstanding 
his  many  and  pressing  business  engagements,  he  was  an  untiring  reader 
of  newspapers,  popular  literature,  and  historical,  scientific  and  theo- 
logical works.  His  memory  of  persons  and  things  was  something 
amazing.  It  was  a  rich  treat  to  hear  him  talk  of  the  people  whom 
he  had  known,  or  of  whom  he  had  heard  or  read,  in  this  city  and 
throughout  Western  Pennsylvania.  The  benefits  of  early  education 
and  habits  of  thought  are  well  illustrated  in  his  successful  career.  He 
did  not  enter  into  any  engagement  at  hap-hazard,  but  after  careful 
thought,  weighing  the  matter  in  all  its  possible  connections;  and  when 
he  made  anything  the  subject  of  investigation,  he  thought  most  intensely, 
not  permitting  any  interruption,  and  then  decided  quickly.  As  a  friend 
and  companion  he  was  one  of  the  most  entertaining  of  men.  He  took 
great  pleasure  in  religious  services;  was  a  devout  hearer  of  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel,  and  was  a  most  liberal  helper  of  the  Third  Presby- 
terian Church  of  this  city,  of  which  he  became  a  member  under  the 
ministry  of  the  late  Rev.  D.  H.  Riddle,  D.  D. 

But  it  is  as  a  giver  of  large  sums  of  money  every  year  to  churches, 
literary  and  humane  institutions,  to  those  overtaken  with  financial 
trouble  or  starting  in  life,  and  to  the  poor,  that  he  is  best  known  to  the 

13 


public.  When  wealth  began  to  pour  in  upon" him  he  realized  his  obli- 
gations. And  although  he  had  never  known  what  want  or  even  strait- 
ened means  was,  the  necessities^of  the  poor  and  of  those  in  distress 
touched  every  fiber  of  his  nature.  His  largest  donations  have  been  to  the 
Western  University  of  this  city;  the  Western  Theological  Seminary; 
Hanover,  Oberlin,  Wooster,  Geneva,  Carroll  and  Maryville  Colleges, 
and  many  others  in  the  South  and  West;  the  Homoeopathic  and  other 
hospitals  in  this  city  ;  the  Society  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Poor, 
School  of  Design,  etc.  The  day  before  his  death  his  confidential  secre- 
tary, by  his  order,  sent  $5,000  to  Rev.  J.  A.  McAfee,  toward  an  addi- 
tional building  to  his  college  at  Parkville,  Mo.,  in  which  he  was 
deeply  interested.  The  Observatory  in  Allegheny  was  a  large  recipient 
of  gifts  from  him.  By  his  aid  the  expedition  of  Prof.  Langley  to  Mt. 
Whitney,  in  Southern  California,  a  few  years  ago,  was  made  possible. 
And  it  was  through  his  liberality  that  Mr.  John  A.  Brashear,  of  this 
city,  has  reached  the  front  among  astronomical  instrument  makers 
of  "the  world." 

[Letter  from  Professor  Brashear,  in  Chronicle  Telegraph^ 

Bacon  once  said :  "Certainly  it  is  heaven  upon  earth  to  have  a 
man's  mind  move  in  charity,  rest  in  Providence,  and  turn  upon  the 
poles  of  truth." 

In  the  many  articles  that  have  been  written  upon  the  life-work  of 
Mr.  William  Thaw  his  grand  and  noble  charity  has  been  the  leading 
theme,  but  the  half  has  never  been  told,  nor  can  it  be;  for  how  can 
men  know  of  the  munificence  of  so  great  a  man,  whose  "  right  hand 
knew  not  what  the  left  had  done  ?"  Those  who  knew  him  best,  all 
knew  of  his  "rest  in  Providence,"  and,  although  they  may  have  differed 
from  him  in  their  beliefs,  he  lived  as  he  believed  in  that 

"Almighty  Providence ! 
Whose  power,  beyond  the  stretch  of  human  thought, 
Kevolves  the  orbs  of  Empire;  bids  them  sink 
Deep  in  the  deadening  night  of  thy  displeasure 
Or  rise  majestic  on  a  wondering  world." 

But  it  is  not  upon  these  themes  I  would  write.  It  is  upon  his 
love  of  Truth  — truth  as  he  found  it  everywhere. 

14 


"All  truth  is  precious,  if  not  all  divine; 
And  what  dilates  the  powers  must  needs  refine." 

It  was  the  privilege  of  the  writer  to  know  Mr.  Thaw  for  many 
years,  to  have  had  many  hours  of  that  delightful  conversation  with 
him  that  not  every  one  could  have,  because  of  the  vast  amount  of  work 
that  the  world  claimed  from  him  in  his  "  waking"  hours.  I  well  re- 
member being  in  conversation  with  him  at  one  time  when  his  pastor, 
Dr.  Thompson,  called  upon  him.  After  a  few  moments'  conversation 
the  Doctor  said :  "  I  will  not  detain  you  now,  but  when  you  have  time 
I  would  like  to  lay  our  work  before  you.  When  do  you  think  you 
will  have  some  time  to  yourself?"  With  a  smile  Mr.  Thaw  said, 
"  When  I  am  in  the  grave." 

His  wonderful  grasp  of  every  question  that  came  up  before  him 
seemed  to  me  almost  superhuman.  I  have  been  engaged  in  conversation 
with  him  on  some  scientific  topic,  perhaps  some  new  research  that  was 
being  pushed  forward  in  the  domain  of  astronomical,  or  physical  sci- 
ence, when  a  call  would  be  made  by  some  one  for  assistance.  He 
would  break  off  from  the  conversation,  attend  to  the  wants  of  the  caller, 
and  immediately  resume  the  thread  of  the  theme  as  if  it  had  not  been 
interrupted  at  all,  and  this  has  been  repeated  a  dozen  times  in  an  hour's 
talk  without  his  great  mind  for  a  moment  losing  its  grasp  upon  the 
subject. 

I  have  often  wondered  how  he  kept  pace  with  the  rapid  strides  of 
scientific  research,  but  I  always  found  him  posted,  ready  to  discuss  in 
a  clear,  logical  manner,  questions  that  had  only  just  been  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  scientific  world.  On  more  than  one  occasion 
I  have  commenced  a  conversation  with  him  on  some  interesting 
scientific  theme  —  and,  waiting  until  I  had  given  my  views,  he  would 
close  his  eyes,  and  as  if  in  a  trance  go  off  into  a  profound  discussion. 
Clear  and  concise,  clothed  in  beautiful  language,  and  showing  a  fertility 
of  brain  power,  a  high  intellectuality  most  wonderful  indeed  for  one 
who  made  no  claim  whatever  to  be  a  scientific  man.  Even  when  Mr. 
Thaw  was  convalescing  from  his  last  illness,  previous  to  his  departure 
for  Europe,  he  laid  before  me  several  plans,  as  he  was  wont  to  call 
them,  for  "  Pushing  outward  the  boundaries  of  human  knowledge." 


15 


I  shall  never  forget  the  last  afternoon  I  spent  an  hour  with  him. 
It  was  the  afternoon  of  the  evening  of  his  leaving  the  city  for  his  trip 
abroad.  He  had  sent  for  me  to  say  good-bye.  I  was  to  stay  but  five 
minutes  —  but  he  began  telling  me  of  the  researches  of  Dr.  Janssen, 
President  of  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  which  had  been  of  deep 
interest  to  both  of  us,  because  it  was  a  continuation  of  Prof.  Langley's 
special  work  on  the  selective  absorption  of  the  earth's  atmosphere.  Dr. 
Janssen's  studies  had  been  made  with  the  spectroscope  on  the  powerful 
electric  light  located  upon  the  Eiffel  Tower,  and  he  had  demonstrated 
that  our  evidence  of  oxygen  in  the  sun  was  all  negatived,  notwithstand- 
ing the  opposite  result  obtained  by  Dr.  Henry  Draper.  I  shall  never 
forget  how  he  began  to  picture  our  sun,  burning  with  such  an  intense  heat 
as  to  be  capable  of  warming  more  than  two  billions  of  worlds  like  our 
own,  and  yet  no  evidence  of  oxygen — an  anomalous  condition  contrary  to 
all  our  ideas  of  combustion,  yet  one  that  he  traced  back  to  the  origin  of 
suns  in  the  nebulous  state.  Such  was  his  conversation  for  the  better 
part  of  an  hour  —  the  last  I  was  ever  permitted  to  enjoy  with  him  on 
earth.  The  five  minutes  had  grown  apace,  and  yet  I  could  have  wished 
it  had  been  hours  instead  of  minutes. 

I  have  been  told  that  his  grasp  of  other  subjects  was  equal  to  that 
of  scientific  themes.     Of  this  I  know  but  little. 

The  writer  can  safely  say  that  few  men  in  this  country  have  con- 
tributed more,  during  their  life-time,  for  the  advancement  of  human 
knowledge  than  William  Thaw,  not  only  in  a  monetary  way,  but  by 
words  of  encouragement,  the  best  advice  and  counsel,  making  it  possi- 
ble to  carry  on  original  research,  and  assisting  in  many  ways  institutions 
of  learning  that  would  surely  have  failed  had  it  not  been  for  his  helping 
hand  and  his  valuable  advice  and  encouragement.  No  one  knows  this 
better  than  the  writer,  for  when  struggling  against  the  tide  to  bring  in- 
struments of  precision  up  to  the  highest  status,  this  great-hearted  man 
came  unsolicited,  and,  appreciating  the  circumstances  as  not  one  man  in 
ten  thousand  would,  he  lent  a  willing,  helping  hand  for  the  benefit  of 
science.  He  knew  as  few  men  do  know,  that  the  man  who  is  willing 
to  devote  his  life  to  such  work  as  my  own,  could  not  hope  to  gain 
a  competence,  or  perhaps  more  than  a  scanty  living,  for  the  first 
ten  years  of  his  labor,  for  his  reputation  must  be  based  upon  the 
character  of  his  work,  and   the  high  standard  of  precision  to  which 

16 


that  work  is  brought.  The  dead  work  that  has  to  be  done  to  reach 
these  results,  the  world  knows  little  of,  and  cares  less.  It  is  only  the 
results  they  want;  then  will  come  the  laudations  from  the  populace, 
which,  if  he  be  a  true  man,  he  will  care  little  for.  Success  to  him  is 
everything  if  it  but  enables  those  who  shall  make  researches  with  the 
instruments  and  appliances  he  has  produced  to  "  push  still  further 
outward  the  border  of  human  knowledge." 

It  is  in  this  very  characteristic  that  the  man  of  science  too  often 
makes  a  blunder.  William  Thaw  always  insisted  that  "  the  workman 
was  worthy  of  his  hire."  And  years  ago  he  gave  me  this  noble  advice, 
"  Never  sacrifice  the  character  of  your  work  to  the  pay  you  get 
for  it.  You  should  always  get  what  the  work  is  worth,  but  if  you 
find  you  cannot  do  that  particular  piece  of  work  up  to  your  standard 
of  excellence  for  the  money  you  get  for  it,  I  will  stand  by  you. " 
Where  can  you,  in  this  broad  earth  of  ours,  find  a  higher  concep- 
tion of  right?  And  I  say  it  with  all  earnestness,  that  in  this  good 
country  of  ours  there  are  many  young  men  who  would  rise  to  eminence, 
and  make  themselves  known  in  the  world,  had  they  such  encouragement 
and  advice,  and  if  it  were  necessary  I  could  point  out  some  of  the 
brightest  lights  in  our  scientific  world,  who  have  received  the  helping 
hand  of  this  grand,  good  man.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  point  to 
the  work  of  our  own  Prof.  Langley,  which  was  fostered  and  encouraged 
by  the  same  philanthropic  spirit  that  gave  so  much  to  the  University 
with  which  the  Allegheny  Observatory  was  connected. 

The  world  knows  it  well,  for  when  we  open  the  splendid  publica- 
tion that  Prof.  Langley  has  given  to  the  world,  we  will  usually  find 
inscribed  therein:  "The  expenditure  needed  for  this  special  research 
was  provided  by  the  liberality  of  a  citizen  of  Pittsburgh,"  etc.  No 
man  held  Mr.  Thaw  in  higher  regard  than  did  Prof.  Langley,  and 
no  man  felt  a  deeper  interest  in  the  now  famous  researches  of  Prof. 
Langley  than  William  Thaw,  and  perhaps  few  men  comprehended  the 
great  value  of  these  scientific  investigations  better  than  he  did.  The 
"  world"  might  say,  of  what  value  to  man  have  all  these  studies  been? 
Where  is  the  practical  benefit  to  come  from  them?  He  saw  and 
knew  that  every  addition  to  human  knowledge  was  an  addition  to  the 
sum  of  human  happiness,  and  that  some  time,  if  not  in  his  life-time, 
these  very  studies  might  be  a  great  factor  in  contributing  to  the  wants 

3  17 


of  man.  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  this,  interesting  as  the  theme  may  be, 
but  we  have  only  to  think  that  some  day,  when  our  coal  fields  are  ex- 
hausted, our  natural  gas  and  other  sources  of  heat  are  all  used  up,  we 
must  in  some  way  utilize  the  direct  energy  of  the  sun,  and  these 
researches  that  Mr.  Thaw  fostered  and  Prof.  Langley  spent  the  best 
part  of  his  life-work  in  carrying  forward,  are  in  a  large  measure 
connected  with  this  most  important  problem. 

One  of  the  most  charming  features  of  Mr.  Thaw's  methods  of  as- 
sisting in  carrying  out  scientific  research,  was  his  implicit  confidence  in 
those  whom  he  entrusted  with  means  to  do  the  work.  They  were 
hedged  about  with  no  worrying  environments,  with  no  signatures  to  a 
note,  but  were  left  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word  to  use  those  means, 
not  as  a  charity,  but  for  the  furtherance  of  investigations  in  the  domain 
of  original  research,  and  work  of  the  highest  precision.  Had  Mr. 
Thaw's  calling  been  such  as  to  have  placed  him  in  the  role  of  a  student 
of  science,  his  success  would  no  doubt  have  been  equal  to  that  which 
he  achieved  in  business. 

We  cannot  but  feel  that  we  have  lost  a  great  man,  not  only  as  a 
philanthropist  in  the  largest  sense  of  that  word,  but  the  searcher  for 
the  beautiful  truths,  that  lie  hidden  behind  the  veiled  laws  of  nature,  has 
to  mourn  for  one  whose  whole  life  was  characterized  by  that  love  of  truth, 
which  prompted  him  to  noble  deeds  in  behalf  of  advanced  scientific 
research,  and  in  developing  a  knowledge  of  the  good  and  beautiful  in 
nature.  But  he  shall  always  live  in  our  memory.  The  monuments 
he  has  left  behind  him  have  been  hewn  from  the  quarries  of  solid 
truths — truths  that  will  live  when  monuments  of  granite  have 
crumbled  into  dust,  aye  until  the  stars  themselves  have  faded,  and 
the  new  dawn  has  been  ushered  in. 

The  soul  of  origin  divine, 

God's  glorious  image,  freed  from  clay, 
In  heaven's  eternal  sphere  shall  shine 

A  star  of  day  ! 
The  sun  is  but  a  spark  of  fire, 

The  transient  meteor  in  the  sky  ; 
The  soul,  immortal  as  its  sire, 

Shall  never  die. 

John  A.  Brashear. 


18 


[Letter  of  Rev.  H.  Johnson,  D.  D.,  in  New  York  Evangelist. .] 

The  death  of  this  remarkable  man  put  Pittsburgh  in  tears.  The 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  shared  in  the  sorrow.  But  there  was 
a  wideness  and  mightiness  in  the  influence  of  his  life,  quite  beyond  all 
local  limits,  justifying  far  more  than  the  usual  word  of  remembrance  and 
grateful  eulogy.  As  one  who  knew  him  many  years,  and  in  some  of 
the  most  precious  and  sacred  relations  of  life,  I  bring  this  tribute  to  his 
memory.  It  seems  meet,  moreover,  that  there  should  be  emphasized  to 
the  thought  and  heart  of  the  Church,  more  fully  than  has  yet  been  done, 
the  worth  of  this  prince  among  men. 

From  first  to  last,  through  a  half-century,  he  was  a  man  of  business. 
Starting  in  modest  circumstances,  Pittsburgh  soon  grew  to  recognize 
him  as  one  of  her  foremost  citizens.  His  business  interests  widened 
under  his  wise  supervision,  until  they  compassed  the  continent,  and  rep- 
resented millions  of  wealth.  He  stood  unchallenged  through  all  these 
years,  a  model  of  energy,  efficiency,  and  integrity — the  very  soul  of 
business  honor,  the  affable,  genial  Christian  gentleman,  never  associated 
with  questionable  processes  in  the  pursuit  of  gain,  never  abating  his  in- 
terest in,  and  his  zeal  for,  affairs,  yet  never  allowing  himself  to  be  so 
absorbed  in  them  as  to  be  unmindful  of  either  the  amenities  or  sanctities 
of  life.  He  had  rare  gifts  of  management.  He  had  insight  and  fore- 
sight, and  a  long  memory.  His  mind  moved  like  lightning.  He  went 
flashing  through  difficulties,  and  was  swift  to  conclusion,  and  rarely 
wrong.  Nor  did  he  move  along  narrow  lines.  He  thought  broadly. 
He  combined  intensity  and  comprehensiveness,  as  scarcely  any  other 
man  I  ever  knew.  This  gave  him  a  genius  for  business.  But  it  made 
it  impossible  that  he  should  forget  the  man  in  the  business.  No  com- 
mercial transactions,  however  vast,  could  confine  him.  He  went  out 
into  literature,  into  science,  into  mechanic  and  fine  arts,  into  philosophy 
and  history,  and  enriched  himself  with  much  spoil  from  these  varied 
fields.  Of  course  thesa  were  the  "  asides"  of  his  busy  life.  But  he 
traversed  these  paths  so  often,  and  with  so  ready  and  keen  an  eye,  that 
he  could  talk  with  a  rare  engagingness,  and  interest,  of  any  one  of  them. 
What  a  scientist  he  would  have  made,  if  he  had  given  himself  to  science. 
And  who  that  ever  was  accustomed  to  hear  him  on  an  author  or  a  book, 
or  that  ever  was  admitted  to  the  inner  chambers  of  his  friendship,  where 

19 


he  conversed  upon  the  deeper  topics  of  his  heart,  can  recall  the  chaste 
precision  and  felicity  and  affluence  of  his  speech,  and  the  originality  and 
vigor  of  his  thought,  and  doubt  that  if  he  had  become  a  man  of  letters 
instead  of  a  man  of  affairs,  he  would  have  risen  to  most  distinguished 
literary  eminence. 

Tie,  now,  his  intensity  and  comprehensiveness  to  a  strong  will,  that 
made  him  resolute  and  of  fixed  purpose;  grip  that  will  with  a  conscience 
enlightened  by  the  Word  of  God,  and  soften  it  by  a  great,  sympathetic 
heart,  where  God  has  laid  the  beams  of  the  chambers  of  his  grace,  and 
you  have  the  combination  that  made  Mr.  Thaw  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able men  with  whom  I  ever  had  the  pleasure  of  association.  Other  men 
have  had  one  or  another  of  these  royal  parts,  so  as  to  be  pre-eminent 
in  special  fields;  but  in  him  they  appeared  in  very  unusual  combina- 
tion, so  that  in  the  home,  in  society,  before  a  Bible  class,  in  the 
tender  beseechings  of  a  heart  uplifted  in  prayer,  in  vigorous  debate,  in 
earnest  contention  for  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth,  in  sympathetic 
contact  with  the  poor  and  unfortunate,  in  fact,  in  every  relation  of 
life,  he  was  an  intellectual,  social,  religious  stimulus.  Men  respected 
him,  confided  in  him,  leaned  on  him,  were  tied  to  him,  in  a  thousand 
ways.  Ten  thousand  citizens  of  Pittsburgh  looked  into  his  dead  face, 
and  tears  were  on  their  faces,  and  more  tears  were  in  their  hearts,  as 
they  thought  of  the  burdens  he  had  lightened,  and  the  griefs  he  had 
assuaged,  and  the  hopes  he  had  kindled,  as  he  had  come  in  touch  with 
their  need. 

His  piety  was  of  the  sort  that  did  not  herald  itself  by  any  special 
mien,  or  carriage,  or  nomenclature.  While  respectful  of  forms,  he  cared 
little  for  the  merely  outward  and  external.  He  could  not  be  hampered 
by  any  set  phraseology,  or  prescribed  methods,  in  religious  worship  and 
work  and  conversation.  But  the  Word  of  God  took  deep  hold  of  his 
nature,  making  him  a  man  of  the  profouudest  religious  convictions. 
He  could  be  severe  on  occasion,  but  only  with  the  severity  of  truth. 
His  convictions  did  not  make  him  austere.  They  only  gave  a  base 
to  his  tender-heartedness  and  abounding  sympathy,  and  kept  a  naturally 
emotional  and  genial  nature,  that  was  richly  veined  with  humor,  from 
degenerating  into  license  and  mawkish  sentimentality.  The  pathos  of 
Calvary  stirred  his  inmost  soul,  and  often  and  often  I  have  seen  his  face 
suffused  with  feeling,  and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears.     His  heart  was  like 

20 


a  child's.  Yet  his  keen,  clear,  intellectual  discrimination  rarely  failed 
him.  And  his  love  was  of  the  Apostolic  sort,  "  abounding  more  and 
more  in  knowledge  and  in  all  judgment." 

Perhaps  Mr.  Thaw  is  most  widely  known  for  his  benevolence. 
But  the  general  reputation  is  after  all  inadequate  to  the  quantity,  or  the 
quality  of  his  giving.  He  grew  rich.  But  he  was  not  enslaved  by  his 
riches.  He  held  them  ;  they  did  not  hold  him.  And  he  held  them  as 
from  his  Lord,  only  in  trust,  and  therefore  for  service.  It  is  absolutely 
safe  to  say  he  gave  away  millions  before  he  died.  When  he  began 
his  business  career,  he  scrupulously  set  apart  a  tenth  of  his  then  slender 
income  for  God.  Just  what  figures  his  generous  heart  mounted  up  to 
along  the  intervening  years,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  there  is  not  a  shadow 
of  doubt  that  his  gifts  more  than  kept  pace  with  his  accumulations. 

He  never  bulked  his  gifts,  so  that  they  loomed  large  to  the  public 
eye.  He  was  strangely  averse  to  notoriety.  He  built  no  million,  or 
half-million,  monument  in  one  place,  as  a  shining  record  of  his  good 
deed.  He  gave  widely,  quietly,  multipliedly,  and  it  may  well  be  be- 
lieved, a  hundred  thousand  hearts  thank  God  this  day  for  direct  proofs 
of  his  generous  liberality,  while  institutions,  by  the  score,  have  been 
the  recipients  of  his  bounty. 

But  the  spirit  with  which  he  gave,  transcends  by  all  odds  the 
amount  he  gave.  It  was  so  genial,  so  tender  of  sensitive  meed,  so  royal- 
natured,  so  heartily  cordial,  so  set  about  with  pleasantness,  that  one 
often  felt  in  going  from  his  presence  after  successful  appeal  to  his  liber- 
ality, that  he  had  been  conferring  a  favor,  instead  of  receiving  one.  In 
this  respect  this  great  heart  was  princely. 

His  last  will  and  testament  is  traced  all  over  with  the  character- 
istics that  marked  the  man.  The  multiform  diversity  of  his  benefac- 
tions, the  delicate  consideration  for  those  in  special  circumstances  of 
need,  the  remembrance  of  the  poor  and  the  unfortunate,  the  personality 
and  tenderness  of  his  relations  to  individuals,  the  wideness  of  his  sym- 
pathetic interest,  his  discriminating  judgment — they  are  all  in  this  word 
of  his,  left  to  be  opened,  and  read,  after  his  decease. 

If  only  the  giving  a  cup  of  cold  water  in  the  name  of  a  disciple, 
is  assured  of  eternal  reward,  who  can  conceive,  who  shall  dare  hazard 
a  guess,  what  God  brought  from  out  his  infinite  stores  to  reward  the 
man  with  such  a  record,  when  He  called  him  from  his  earthly  steward- 

21  Herrick  Johnson. 


ship  ? 


August  30th,  1889,  at  the  Third   Presbyterian  Church.* 


How  a  life  that  has  been  spent  for  good  can  bring  together  the 
hearts  of  men  and  bind  closer  the  ties  of  humanity  regardless  of  sect  or 
creed,  was  fully  demonstrated  yesterday  at  the  funeral  of  the  late 
William  Thaw.  Long  before  the  hour  announced  for  the  opening  of 
the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  where  the  body  was  to  lie  in  state, 
crowds  began  to  assemble.  They  came  from  the  purlieus  of  poverty 
and  from  the  aristocratic  mansions  of  the  wealthy  ;  there  were  members 
and  communicants  from  all  religious  denominations;  those  who  acknowl- 
edge no  religion  but  humanity,  and  those  who  believe  in  naught.  Gentile 
and  Jew,  Christian  and  infidel,  rubbed  shoulders,  brought  there  by  a  com- 
mon feeling  of  love  and  respect  for  a  great  and  good  man,  whose  every 
act  in  life  had  tended  to  make  every  one  with  whom  he  came  in  contact 
better  for  having  known  him.  It  was  not  only  material  aid,  which  he 
dispensed  with  a  most  lavish  hand,  that  endeared  him  to  the  hearts  of 
the  vast  multitude,  but  his  kindly  sympathy  and  words  of  encourage- 
ment. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  hearse  containing  the  remains  arrived,  and, 
between  lines  of  sorrowing  people  with  bowed  heads,  the  casket  was 
slowly  carried  into  the  church  and  placed  in  front  of  the  altar.  Ac- 
cording to  the  wishes  of  the  deceased,  there  was  no  floral  display,  except 
a  graceful  palm  at  each  side  of  the  pulpit  and  a  basket  of  white  roses 
behind  the  casket.  As  in  life  his  philanthropic  deeds  had  been  done 
without  ostentation,  so  in  death  there  was  no  display. 

When  the  lid  was  removed  from  the  casket,  displaying  the  features 
of  the  dead  philanthropist,  a  long  line  of  friends  bearing  the  impress 

*Tliis  portion  is  made  up  of  brief  extracts,  from  the  daily  papers,  to  form  one 
continuous  narrative. 

22 


of  their  grief  on  their  countenances,  slowly  filed  by  and  gazed  for  the 
last  time  on  the  face  that  was  endeared  to  all.  He  was  the  friend  of 
every  one  in  that  vast  throng,  and  the  benefactor  of  many.  The  face 
was  so  natural  and  life-like  that  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  peaceful  sleep. 
Slowly  the  crowd  passed  by';  silently  fell  many  a  glittering  tear  on  the 
black  covering  of  the  casket;  solemnly  lips  moved  in  earnest  prayer. 
A  scene  more  impressive  and  purifying  could  not  be  imagined. 

For  three  hours  there  was  a  constant  stream  of  mourners  passing 
the  casket,  and  at  one  o'clock,  when  the  doors  had  to  be  closed,  there  were 
still  many  who  had  not  succeeded  in  looking  on  that  noble  face.  As 
many  as  it  was  possible  were  allowed  to  pass  in,  but  finally  the  doors 
were  closed  and  preparations  made  for  the  public  service. 

At  one  o'clock  the  line  was  stopped,  the  church  doors  were  closed, 
and  the  cover  was  replaced  over  the  face.  For  one  hour  the  church 
was  quiet  and  cool.  The  windows  were  open  and  the  summer  breeze 
blew  through  the  holy  precincts.  The  church  ushers  allotted  the  sev- 
eral parts  of  the  auditorium  reserved  for  the  various  attendants.  The 
front  portion  of  the  central  block  of  seats  was  set  apart  for  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family  and  relatives.  The  front  portion  of  the  western 
block  was  allotted  to  railway  officials.  On  the  eastern  side  spaces  were 
reserved  for  the  trustees  and  faculties  of  the  Western  University  and 
the  Homceopathic  Hospital. 

Shortly  after  two  o'clock  the  family  and  immediate  friends  arrived 
at  the  church,  and  after  they  had  been  seated  near  the  bier,  the  doors 
were  again  thrown  open  to  the  public.  The  auditorium  was  soon  filled 
to  its  utmost  capacity  and  every  seat  in  the  gallery  crowded.  Every 
space  available  for  standing  room  was  also  occupied.  Several  hundred 
people  were  unable  to  get  into  the  church  at  all,  but  remained  standing 
outside  during  the  entire  service.  An  air  of  profound  solemnity  per- 
vaded the  church.  The  front  of  the  pulpit  was  heavily  draped  in 
black.  The  expression  of  every  face  was  an  indication  that  their  only 
thoughts  were  of  the  man  who  had  been  known  by  all  classes  for  his 
great  philanthropy,  business  talent,  generosity  and  kindness.  Many 
were  there  who  had  not  seen  the  inside  of  a  church  since  their  infancy, 
whose  thoughts  are  but  rarely  if  ever  turned  from  worldly  affairs,  yet 
their  tear-dimmed  eyes  spoke  more  eloquently  than  words  of  the  better 
and    holier    nature    within,   having    been    stirred    to    the    depths    by 

23 


the  character  and  life  of  the  deceased.  Some  were  there  with  faces 
so  beautified  by  the  confidence  of  a  Christian's  feeling  of  a  brighter 
life  to  come  that  they  looked  as  though  they  had  been  brushed  by  an 
angel's  wing.  On  every  side  could  be  seen  evidences  of  the  potent  in- 
fluence for  good  the  life  of  a  great,  good  man  can  have. 

The  assemblage  at  the  church  was  such  an  one  as  perhaps  had 
never  been  gathered  together  before  in  this  city  on  a  similar  occasion. 
Ministers  of  every  denomination  were  present.  In  one  group  were 
noticed  Bishop  Whitehead,  of  the  Episcopal  Church  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Passa- 
vant,  of  the  Lutheran  Church;  Rev.  Father  M.  M.  Sheedy,  Rabbi 
Meyer,  Rev.  E.  R.  Donehoo,  Rev.  W.  J.  Holland,  Rev.  Dr.  James 
Allison  and  Rev.  Mr.  Fox.  There  was  also  a  large  representation  of 
the  bankers  and  business  men  of  the  city.  The  following  representative 
men  were  noticed  : 

President  George  B.  Roberts,  First  Vice  President  Frank 
Thomson,  Second  Vice  President  J.  N.  Du  Barry,  Directors  H. 
H.  Houston,  N.  Parker  Shortridge  and  Amos  R.  Little,  General 
Solicitor  John  Scott,  General  Superintendent  of  Transportation  S.  M. 
Prevost  and  General  Superintendent  of  Motive  Power  T.  N.  Ely,  all  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company;  W.  H.  Barnes,  Receiver  of  the 
Allegheny  Valley  Road;  F.  L.  Neall,  of  the  Inman  Steamship  Line; 
Stephen  Little,  General  Auditor  of  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company; 
D.  S.  Gray,  General  Agent  of  the  Pennsylvania  Company ;  F.  H. 
Kingsbury,  General  Eastern  Superintendent  Union  Freight  Line;  E. 
A.  Dawson,  General  Western  Superintendent  Union  Line ;  W.  W. 
Chandler,  Agent  Union  Line  at  Chicago  ;  W.  E.  Lawrence,  Western 
Manager  Inman  Steamship  Line ;  William  Bonier,  Division  Freight 
Agent  Pennsylvania  Company  at  Chicago ;  H.  W.  Brown,  General 
Agent  Union  Line  at  Cincinnati;  D.  T.  McCabe,  Assistant  General 
Freight  Agent  Panhandle  Company  ;  W  O.  Hughart,  President  Grand 
Rapids  &  Indiana  Railroad  ;  J.  H.  P.  Hughart,  Assistant  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Grand  Rapids  &  Indiana  Railroad  ;  E.  A.  Beach,  Agent  of 
the  Union  Line  at  Columbus  ;  A.  T.  Wilds,  Agent  of  the  Union  Line 
at  New  York  ;  S.  H.  Church,  Superintendent  of  Transportation  of  the 
Panhandle  Company. 

The  funeral  services  were  simple  and  impressive.  A  solemn  dirge 
was  played  on  the  great  organ  by  Prof.  Joseph  H.  Gittings,  while  the 

24 


vast  audience  was  being  seated.     As  the  last  notes  died  away,  the  quar- 
tette choir  of  the   Third    Church   sang  one  of   Mr.   Thaw's  favorite 

hymns : 

"  I  would  not  live  alway,  I  ask  not  to  stay, 
When  storm  after  storm  rises  dark  o'er  the  way. 
The  few  lurid  mornings  that  dawn  on  us  here 
Are  enough  of  life's  woes,  full  enough  for  its  cheer." 

The  hymn  was  sung  throughout  with  such  tenderness  that  many 
in  the  audience  were  affected  to  tears. 

After  the  singing  of  this  hymn,  the  pastor,  Rev.  E.  P.  Cowan, 
D.  D.,  read  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  1st  Corinthians,  and  the  last 
chapter  of  Revelation. 

Mrs.  Webster  then  sang  the  hymn,  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth." 

Rev.  George  T.  Purves,  D.  D.,  First  Presbyterian  Church. 

It  is  fitting  upon  this  occasion  that  some  one  should  utter  the 
feelings  of  this  community,  in  view  of  the  bereavement  which  has 
fallen  heavily  upon  it,  as  well  as  on  the  family  of  our  honored  friend. 
My  brethren  who  will  follow  me,  and  who  have  in  the  past  stood 
closer  to  Mr.  Thaw  than  I  have,  will  speak  of  the  aspects  of  his  life 
with  which  they  are  naturally  more  familiar.  It  will  be  my  place  this 
afternoon  to  endeavor  briefly  to  express  the  sentiments  of  his  fellow 
citizens,  and  to  pay  our  common  tribute  to  one  whom  we  have  all 
learned  to  reverence,  to  honor,  to  imitate,  and  above  all,  to  love. 

Mr.  Thaw  has  been  identified  with  Pittsburgh  for  many  years. 
He  has  seen  it  change  from  a  village  to  a  metropolis.  He  has  seen  its 
industries  increase  to  their  present  vast  proportions.  He  has  seen  the 
streets  become  so  crowded  that  where  once  almost  every  face  was 
familiar,  now  the  most  of  us  are  strangers  as  we  meet.  And  in  all 
of  the  changes  which  have  come  over  this  city  he  has  been  largely 
interested.  He  has  had  much  to  do  in  bringing  them  about;  still 
more,  he  has  been  most  intimately  associated  with  almost  all  who  are 
before  me  this  afternoon.  Known  by  all  classes  and  knowing  all  classes, 
the  friend  of  every  one,  his  face  was  a  familiar  object  on  our  streets,  and 
in  the  mind  of  this  community  he  has  been  identified  to  an  unusual 
degree  with  its  rise,  its  progress  and  its  happiness.     It  is  but  scant 

4  25 


justice  that  we  should  lay  our  tribute  of  affection  and  honor  upon  his 
coffin,  and  that  seeking  to  praise  the  Divine  Grace  which,  as  he  would 
have  been  the  first  to  confess,  wrought  through  his  hands,  we  should 
testify  our  gratitude  to  God  for  what  through  his  servant,  He  has  done 
among  and  for  us. 

This  community  has  seen  in  Mr.  Thaw  an  illustrious  example  of 
one  who  united  success  in  life  with  spotless  integrity.  That,  of  itself, 
is  a  great  deal.  That  he  was  successful  we  all  know,  though  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  his  success  was  wholly  due  to  his  integrity.  There 
were  in  him  other  qualities  of  brain  and  heart  and  hand  which  wrought 
marvels.  Quick  to  see  opportunities  and  bold  to  embrace  them,  he  has 
made  his  life  in  this  commercial  metropolis  a  conspicuous  example  ot 
what  the  world  calls  success.  But  he  has  united  with  it,  as  often  is 
not  done,  a  high  sense  of  honor,  scrupulous  fidelity  to  truth,  his  word 
being  like  his  bond,  and  he  could  be  trusted  always  and  everywhere. 
This  is  the  first  spectacle  which  our  honored  friend  has  presented 
through  a  long  life  to  this  community,  and  it  would  be  worth  while 
coming  here  this  afternoon,  if,  by  the  young  men  of  Pittsburgh,  the  im- 
pression is  derived  from  his  example,  that  success  and  integrity  are 
compatible,  and  that  one  may  live  most  wisely  in  this  world,  and  yet 
most  wisely  also  for  the  world  to  come. 

Furthermore,  Mr.  Thaw  has  illustrated  before  this  the  city  in 
which  his  lot  was  cast,  marvelous  success,  combined  with  wonderful 
generosity.  I  do  not  mean  to  be  indelicate  when  I  speak  of  these 
things,  but,  as  I  have  said,  it  seems  to  me  scant  justice  that  in  this 
presence  mention  should  be  made  of  his  wide,  loving  heart  and  his 
always  open  hand.  He  has  been  known  among  you  as  a  philan- 
thropist. Down  deep  belowT  his  love  for  humankind  was  his  love 
of  God,  and  out  of  that  love  of  God  his  love  of  man  proceeded. 
I  think  you  will  testify  that  I  speak  the  truth  when  I  say  that  his 
generosity  arose  from  a  sense  of  responsibility.  He  felt  that  he  was  a 
steward  of  God;  that  God  had  granted  him  great  opportunities,  and 
that  he  must  render  to  his  Maker  his  account;  and  hence  it  was  that 
his  liberality  was,  what  is  not  always  the  case,  personal.  It  grew  out 
of  his  own  personal  interest  in  mankind.  Oftentimes  would  he  seek  to 
know  those  whom  he  might  help,  that  his  own  kind  sympathies  might 
reach    them  as  well  as  his  gifts.      His  was  neither  a  formal  nor  forced 

26 


generosity.  It  was  a  constant  personal  outflow  of  love  to  man.  And 
then,  too,  it  was  varied  and  almost  universal.  Most  men  do  good 
in  certain  lines,  and  beyond  them  they  often  can  see  no  good.  He 
sought  opportunity  among  all.  In  religion  and  in  science ;  in  morals 
and  in  education;  for  the  church  and  for  the  world;  at  home  and 
abroad  :  for  those  who  were  known,  and  for  many  more  that  were 
unknown  ;  for  those  who  were  before  the  public  eye,  and  for  the 
poor  and  the  forgotten,  his  benevolence  was  exerted.  Simple  need 
was  all  he  required  to  find,  and  as  God  gave  him  the  ability,  he  loved 
to,  and  helped,  his  fellow  man.  If  with  a  like  sense  of  responsibility 
every  one  of  us  could,  in  some  such  measure,  discharge  the  debt  we  owe 
to  God,  through  doing  good  to  men,  how  different  this  world  would  be. 
How  many  smiles  there  would  be  to-day  where  there  are  tears;  how 
many  light,  instead  of  heavy  hearts  ;  how  near  would  all  classes  and  all 
men  be  drawn  to  one  another. 

But  most  of  all  you  have  had  before  you  through  these  three  score 
years  and  ten  a  character  whom  you  have  learned  to  love.  A  man  may 
be  a  man  of  integrity,  and  yet  not  lovable;  a  man  may  be  a  generous 
man,  and  yet  not  lovable.  It  is  a  further  grace,  a  crowning  grace,  when 
before  the  community  which  has  known  him  so  intimately,  it  is  possible 
for  me  to  say  that  there  was  added  to  his  character  a  personal  interest  in 
others,  which  drew  them  to  him  as  sons  to  a  father,  as  brethren  to  an 
elder  brother,  and  which  make  your  feelings  here  to-day  altogether  dif- 
ferent from  what  they  would  be  in  the  mere  presence  of  righteousness  and 
generosity.  Yes,  through  all  these  years  you  have  learned  to  love  him, 
and  the  crowded  audience  gathered  in  this  church  this  afternoon,  testi- 
fies how  strong  are  the  bonds  of  gratitude  and  affection  which  hold  you 
to  his  memory.  The  stream  of  his  influence  has  gone  forth,  not  only 
in  this  church,  but  throughout  this  city;  yea,  beyond  this  city,  for 
throughout  the  whole  land  there  are  those  who  are  thanking  God  to- 
day for  his  servant's  character  and  deeds. 

Dear  friends,  it  is  worth  while  to  live,  if  we  can  live  thus.  It  is 
not  worth  while  to  live,  if  we  merely  win  this  world's  gain.  It  is  not 
worth  while  to  live,  if  we  merely  win  this  world's  applause.  But  to 
win  the  love,  to  merit  the  affection,  and  to  lift  heavenward  the  lives,  of 
our  fellow  men,  that,  indeed,  is  to  make  life  worth  living. 


Rev.  Matthew  B.  Riddle,  D.  D.,  Prof,  in  West.  Theo.  Seminary. 

It  is  my  privilege,  sad  as  it  is,  to  speak  of  the  personal  life  and 
character  of  Mr.  Thaw.  What  I  have  to  say  is  so  worthy  of  being  said, 
that  it  is  a  privilege  to  be  here  to  speak  of  him.  The  privilege  is  mine, 
I  may  say,  without  impropriety,  because  a  half  a  century  ago  a  num- 
ber of  little  boys  were  taken  out  of  the  infant  school  of  the  old  Third 
Church,  and  put  in  the  class  of  which  Mr.  Thaw,  then  a  young  man  in 
business,  but  lately  having  made  his  profession  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
was  the  teacher.  I  was  one  of  those  little  boys,  and  ever  since,  year 
in  and  year  out,  especially  in  later  years,  the  ties  then  formed  have 
strengthened ;  many  of  them  made  more  binding  from  sorrow  and 
grief,  common  to  us  both. 

A  member  of  his  first  Sunday  School  class,  privileged  to  know 
something  of  his  mind  and  heart,  I  can  speak  not  so  much  of  William 
Thaw  the  philanthropist,  but  as  of  him  whose  place  in  some  of  our 
lives  can  never  be  filled ;  because  of  what  he  was,  rather  than  of  what 
he  did  or  gave.  Others,  I  trust,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  may  take  up 
the  work  that  he  did  ;  there  is  money  enough  in  the  pockets  of  Chris- 
tian men  in  Pittsburgh,  to  do  a  dozen  times  as  much  for  the  community 
as  even  Mr.  Thaw  did,  but  for  many  of  us  there  never  will  be  another 
friend  like  this  one. 

Now  what  made  this  man  what  he  was?  Allusion  has  been  made 
to  his  Christian  character,  and  his  character  for  philanthropy;  but,  O 
my  friends,  some  of  you  comparative  strangers  to  him,  do  not  have  the 
impression  that  this  man  was  merely  one  who,  having  obtained  wealth 
in  some  easy  manner,  was,  sometimes  from  impulse  and  at  other  times 
to  avoid  trouble,  ready  to  dispense  his  charities.  Not  so.  Mr.  Thaw 
was  one  of  the  greatest  men  I  ever  knew.  Intellectually  one  of  the 
greatest,  and  I  think  I  have  met  some  men  that  have  been  reputed 
very  great  in  this  world.  His  was  a  magnificent  intellect,  and  if  he 
had  died  penniless,  his  death  would  have  taken  out  of  Pittsburgh  what 
has  been  for  me  the  greatest  intellectual  stimulus.  I  say  that  with 
reason,  because  it  may  be  forgotten.  Had  he  turned  his  attention  to 
other  ends,  he  would  still  have  been  renowned  as  great  in  those  direc- 
tions. His  life  was  a  testimony  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  necessary  that 
a  man  who  accumulates  wealth  shall  forget  to  cultivate  himself.  Of 
keen   intellectual  perceptions,  excellent  judgment,  of  rare  facility  and 

28 


also  felicity  in  speech,  Mr.  Thaw  might  have  achieved  great  success  in 
the  scientific  world,  and  I  think  even  more  in  the  literary  world.     To 
hear  him  talk,  when  he  was  free  from  ordinary  cares,  and  allowed  him- 
self to  speak  of  the  thoughts  that  lay  deeper  in  his  mind  and  nearer  to 
his  heart,  was  a  great  privilege.     His  sentences  came  out  with  the  pre- 
cision that  belonged  to  a  master  workman  in  the  use  of  human  speech. 
His  letters  are  fit  to  preserve  as  literary  productions.      And  this  is  the 
man  that  we  mourn  to-day,  a  man  of  marked  individuality,  commanding 
intellect  and  rare  versatility  ;  a  man  who  would  hear  the  tale  of  distress 
any  one  brought  him,  and,  turning  from  the  act  of  supplying  the  needy, 
would  begin  to  talk  about  the  last  theory  of  the  origin  of  matter,  the 
last  discussion  in  regard  to  some  profound  philosophical  or  theological 
question  ;  whose  taste  never  was  obliterated  by  all  his  contact  with  this 
busy  world,  or  by  all  his  success.     He  said  to  me  at  his  own  door  one 
day,  "They  talk  about  men  owning  millions;    it  is  too  often  the  mill- 
ions that  own  the  man."    But  I  can  say  for  him,  they  never  owned  Mr. 
Thaw.     He  was  always  larger  than  his  money,  which  is  not  true  of 
every  man;    larger,  because  there  was  in  him  not  only  this  magnificent 
intellectual   furniture,  but  there   was  a   heart  as  tender  as  a  woman's  ; 
at  times  as  sentimental  as  a  school-girl's.     Those  who  knew  him  well 
remember  how  this  manifested  itself,  in  the  flash  of  his  eye,  turning  to 
some  memory  of  the  past,  recalling  it  with  that  wonderful  fondness  of 
his  for  local  association  and  olden  times,  showing  that  he  was  fresh  as 
a  child  in  his  recollection,  and  that  the  heart  behind  that  eye  was  not 
hardened  at  all  by  the  contact  and  the  competition  of  this  busy  world 
of  ours,  but  remained  to  the  last,  tender  and  true  as  it  was  in  the  first. 
Then  the  forcibleness  of  his  character,  as  manifested  at  the  ready  and 
effective  action  which  followed  his  accurate  judgment  and  rapid  de- 
cision.    He   was  like  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land  to 
multitudes  of  people,  because  of  his  personal  character. 

So,  my  dear  friends,  we  are  gathered  here  to  mourn.  Those  of 
you  who  knew  only  the  more  public  side  of  his  character,  should  re- 
member that  there  is  a  loss  to  some  nearest  and  dearest  to  him,  that 
cannot  be  measured.  The  husband  is  gone,  the  father  is  gone,  the  true 
intimate  friend  is  gone,  the  man  that  was  such  a  comfort  because  he 
was  William  Thaw,  because  of  what  he  was  in  our  lives.  Those  of  us 
who  are  getting  older  will  never  have  the  loss  made  up.     With  humble 


29 


gratitude  to  God  for  all  the  natural  basis  of  such  a  character,  we  recog- 
nize that  this  was  what  grace  had  to  work  upon.  Only  out  of  such 
natural  material  does  God's  grace  in  Christ  make  such  a  man,  such  a 
worker  for  good  to  his  kind,  such  a  Christian  hero  in  one  sense;  for 
the  sacrifice  he  made  of  his  time  has  always  seemed  to  me  more  heroic 
than  the  free  giving  of  his  means.  We  shall  soon  pass  to  the  contempla- 
tion of  his  religious  life,  and  in  the  guidance  of  his  pastor,  to  learn  how 
we  should  be  thankful  that  the  Lord  God  turned  such  a  hand  and  heart 
to  his  own  service,  brought  him  early  to  the  recognition  of  his  position 
towards  Jesus  Christ,  his  dependence  upon  him,  and  kept  him  there  so 
long  and  with  such  blessing. 

One  word  in  closing  I  will  say,  which  will  be  fully  understood  by 
a  narrowing  circle  of  friends  present  in  this  mourning  assembly.  The 
first  pastor  of  this  church,  in  his  later  years,  was  sometimes  subject  to 
great  despondency,  and  on  one  such  occasion,  in  talking  of  his  past  life, 
he  said,  "  Well,  no  man's  life  can  be  a  failure,  if  he  has  had  the  privilege 
of  helping  to  train  the  character  of  such  a  man  as  William  Thaw." 

Rev.  E.  P.  Cowan,  D.  D.,  Third  Presbyterian  Church. 

We  are  all  here  this  afternoon,  my  friends,  to  share  each  with 
the  other  a  common  loss  ;  to  bear  each  with  the  other  a  common  burden. 
In  oneway  or  another  the  life  of  this  good  man  whom  God  has  taken  to 
himself,  has  touched  and  influenced  each  one  of  our  lives,  and  in  touch- 
ing them  has  drawn  us  toward  him  and  bound  us  to  him,  so  that  when 
we  realize  that  he  has  been  called  away,  we  find  our  hearts  bleeding  and 
torn,  because  these  ties  are  sundered  and  these  cords  are  snapped.  When 
we  call  to  mind  all  the  places  where  he  has  been  seen  these  many  years 
—  the  home,  the  office,  the  church  — and  think  that  these  places  shall 
know  him  no  more  forever,  then  we  feel  surely  that  something  has 
gone  out  of  our  lives,  and  that  neither  the  family,  nor  the  church,  nor 
the  community,  or  life  itself,  will  ever  be  to  us  just  the  same.  But  to 
dwell  on  his  virtues  is  only  to  magnify  our  own  loss;  to  speak  of  the 
rare  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  with  which  his  Creator  endowed  him 
is  only  to  open  up  the  more  keenly  and  vividly  to  us  the  extent  of  our 
own  bereavement.  I  think  I  can  say  that  outside  the  circle  of  his 
nearest  relatives  and  dear  ones,  there  could  be  no  more  sincere  mourner 
than  the  one  who  is  now  speaking  to  you.     In  the  church  that  he  loved 

30 


and  over  which  God  has  placed  me  as  pastor,  I  found  him  to  be  an 
almost  incalculable  power  for  good.  He  was  always  in  his  place  if  his 
health  permitted,  and  he  was  not  out  of  the  city.  He  was  always  ready 
— more  than  ready — to  bear  his  share,  and  I  have  often  thought,  more 
than  his  share,  of  the  burdens.  He  was  always  all  that  any  pastor 
could  wish  a  man  to  be  to  him  in  his  work.  So  I  say  there  are  those 
to  whom  this  loss  comes  with  greater  force  and  power,  but  there  is  no 
one  who  mourns  his  departure  more  sincerely,  more  keenly  than  his 
pastor. 

But  then,  dear  friends,  shall  we  in  the  midst  of  our  grief  and 
sorrow  lose  sight  of  the  memory  of  this  magnificent  life?  Shall  our 
tears  blind  us  to  the  infinite  goodness  of  God?  Shall  we  not  here  in 
this  house  —  and  where  better?  —  shall  we  not  here  seek  for  some 
consolation,  some  comfort  that  shall  help  us,  that  shall  cheer  us,  that 
shall  in  some  way  bind  up  our  broken  hearts,  and  enable  us  to  look  up 
to  God  and  say,  Thy  will  be  done?  I  think  there  are  some  things  for 
which  we  should  be  thankful  to-day  as  well  as  things  for  which  we 
should  mourn. 

We  should  be  thankful  to  God  for  the  very  life  of  this  man.  The 
world  has  been  made  brighter  by  his  smiles.  Misery  and  sorrow  have 
been  lessened  by  his  ministrations  and  benefactions.  No  human  being 
knows  to  what  extent.  God  only  knows.  But  we  know  that  there  is  less 
sorrow  in  the  world  for  his  having  lived,  and  the  world  has  been  made 
better  by  his  example.  Now  when  we  think  of  such  a  life  we  can  see 
that  the  only  thing  to  be  sorry  for  is,  that  it  is  over  ;  but  this  must  not 
keep  us  from  thanking  God  that  there  was  such  a  life,  and  that  through 
it  blessed  influences  have  been  set  in  motion  that  shall  continue  and 
multiply  for  years  to  come,  and  that,  though  he  who  lived  this  life  now 
rests  from  his  labors,  his  works  shall  follow  him.  Let  us  know  and  be 
thankful  to-day  for  the  truth  that  he,  by  living  as  he  did,  has  reared  for 
himself  a  monument  more  enduring  than  brass,  and  that 

"With  us  his  name  shall  live 

Through  long  succeeding  years, 
Embalmed  with  all  our  hearts  can  give, 
Our  praises  and  our  tears." 

Not  only  let  us  thank  God  this  afternoon  that  He  gave  this  life  to 
the  world,  but  let  us  thank  God  that  He  spared  William  Thaw  to  live 

31 


three  score  years  and  ten.  God  might  have  taken  him  away  in  the 
strength  and  prime  of  his  manhood.  True,  God  might  have  let  him 
live  longer  than  He  did,  but  let  us  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  God 
let  him  live  out  the  allotted  length  of  man's  earthly  existence.  "The 
days  of  our  years  are  three  score  years  and  ten,  and  if  by  reason  of 
strength  they  be  four  score,  yet  is  their  strength  labor  and  sorrow, 
for  it  is  soon  cut  off  and  we  fly  away."  Let  us  be  satisfied  that  God 
knows  best.  Let  us  be  duly  thankful  that  He  spared  him  to  the  world 
as  long  as  He  did. 

Then  there  is  another  thought  that  should  comfort  us;  I  know  it 
already  comforts  the  hearts  of  some.  I  know  that  some  loving  ones 
who  were  wondering  at  the  strange  Providence  of  God  when  the  shock 
first  came,  are  beginning  to  see  through  the  mists  and  darkness,  and 
understand  better,  and  are  now  thanking  God  for  some  things  that 
they  did  not  see  at  the  beginning.  We  may  have  thought  it  strange 
that  God  should  allow  him  to  die  in  a  foreign  land.  We  may,  some  of 
us,  have  had  the  idea  that,  stricken  with  disease,  he  was  driven  from  his 
home  in  search  of  health.  Let  us  correct  this  thought.  His  going 
from  his  native  land  was  but  the  carrying  out  of  a  long  cherished 
desire.  He  would  have  gone  anyhow,  had  he  not  been  visited  at  all 
with  his  recent  sickness.  This,  instead  of  being  the  cause  of  his  going, 
was  a  hindrance  that  delayed  his  departure  for  awhile.  Soon  after  he 
had  gone  upon  his  journey  his  pains  all  left  him,  and  in  health 
he  was  almost  rejuvenated.  I  had  the  privilege  of  reading  some  of 
the  letters  that  he  wrote  home  to  his  family,  and  there  was  not  a  letter 
but  that  breathed  the  spirit  of  a  man  buoyant  and  hopeful  and  glad, 
and  satisfied  that  he  had  gone.  In  his  latest  letters  he  said,  "  I  have 
not  felt  stronger  for  years."  His  spirit  was  always  young,  but  with 
the  return  of  health  he  seemed  indeed  to  be  renewing  his  youth. 
A  combination  of  untoward  influences,  apart  from  his  former  troubles, 
came  together  in  the  Providence  of  God,  and  ended  his  earthly 
career.  They  might  have  come  sooner;  they  might  have  come 
later;  they  might  have  come  here;  they  did  come  yonder.  It  was 
God's  way;  it  was  God's  will.  God  knows.  God  reigns.  And 
when  it  came  time  for  God  to  claim  his  servant,  let  us  be  thankful 
that  He  did  not  call  him  to  go  through  any  long,  painful,  and 
sorrowful    experiences    in   mind  or  body.       His    last    illness  was  not 

32 


long.  His  sufferings  were  not  extreme.  His  mind  was  at  peace. 
Almost  in  a  moment  he  was  absent  from  the  body,  and  then  we  know 
he  was  present  with  his  Lord.  And  so,  dear  friends,  we  have  reason 
to  be  thankful  —  those  of  us  who  loved  him,  and  who  love  him  still  — 
that  there  are  some  bright  lights  even  in  this  darkness;  that  there  is 
something  to  comfort  our  hearts,  even  in  the  way  in  which  God  took 
him,  strange  and  mysterious  as  it  seemed  at  first.  The  one  thing,  I 
repeat,  and  the  only  thing  that  weighs  on  our  hearts,  is — that  God  has 
taken  him  from  us.  While  we  mourn  over  this,  may  we  not  still, 
through  His  help,  call  on  our  souls  to  bless  God,  who  ordereth  all 
things  aright,  who  doeth  all  things  well? 

There  is  another  thought,  that  ought  greatly  to  assuage  our 
grief.  It  is  that  this  man  whom  God  reared,  and  whom  God  spared, 
and  whom  God  guided  and  watched  over  in  this  world,  was  one  of 
those  chosen  ones,  for  whom  God  has  something  better  in  the  world  to 
come.  The  steps  of  all  good  men  in  this  world  are  ordered  by  the  Lord, 
and  as  we  follow  them  in  thought  out  of  this  life,  we  call  to  mind  the 
inspired  words  of  the  Apostle,  that  we  are  not  to  be  ignorant  concerning 
them  that  sleep ;  that  we  sorrow  not  as  others  who  have  no  hope.  If  I 
were  speculating  concerning  the  other  world  and  the  probabilities  of 
immortality,  independent  of  any  revelation,  I  should  say  that  if  any  man 
ever  reached  up  and  grasped  immortality  because  it  was  possible  to  the 
great  and  strong,  William  Thaw  reached  it,  and  grasped  it;  or  if  some 
one  should  tell  me  that  only  those  who  are  pure  and  good,  and  love 
their  fellow  men  should  reach  it,  still  I  should  say  he  reached  it;  or  if, 
again,  I  am  pointed  to  the  Word  of  God,  where  I  find  written  in 
unmistakable  lines  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  alone  cleanseth  from 
all  sin,  I  still  would  say  that  William  Thaw  reached  and  now  wears 
the  crown  of  an  immortal  life,  for  his  earthly  life  was  a  continued  trust 
in  God  through  the  atoning  blood  of  his  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.  Dear  friends,  I  ask  again,  have  we  anything  to  be  sorrowful 
for,  save  the  one  fact  that  God, in  taking  him  to  himself,  has  for  a  time 
separated  him  from  us,  and  us  from  him? 

In  conclusion,  as  a  testimony  to  the  devout  and  religious  life  of 
this  servant  of  God,  I  have  had  a  fact  communicated  to  me  just  as  I 
came  into  the  pulpit,  that  I  know  will  gratify  all  Christian  hearts.  It 
is  this,  that  while  on  the  last  Sabbath  that  he  spent  in  this  world,  he 

5  33 


worshiped  with  God's  people  at  the  Episcopal  English  Church  in 
Paris,  and  enjoyed  the  service,  and  spoke  afterwards  of  the  sense  of 
worship  he  had  had  with  them,  on  the  previous  Sabbath  he  had  attended 
the  American  Chapel,  and  finding  it  to  be  Communion  Sabbath,  he 
joined  with  them  in  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  was  concerning 
this  service  that  he  said  in  writing  to  one  of  his  family,  "  I  remained 
to  the  Communion,  with  much  profit  to  myself."  Oh,  Christian  friends, 
may  we  not  take  this  as  a  last  message  and  lesson,  from  our  departed 
fellow  Christian,  and  endeavor  always  like  him  to  seek,  enjoy  and  keep 
up  communion  with  our  dear  Lord  wherever  we  are,  knowing  that  as 
with  him,  it  will  be  always  to  us,  of  great  profit  to  our  souls.  May  God 
comfort  us,  and  may  we  comfort  one  another  with  these  words. 

Following  these  addresses,  the  pastor  offered  a  prayer,  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Purves  pronounced  the  benediction,  and  all  was  over,  and  tenderly 
the  body  of  one  so  closely  identified  with  the  Third  Presbyterian 
Church  from  its  earliest  years  was  carried  out  and  borne  to  its  last 
resting  place,  the  beautiful  Allegheny  Cemetery,  whose  interests  he 
had  guarded  so  closely,  and  in  the  improvement  of  which  he  had 
taken  such  delight. 


34 


gin  U&Umartcmt* 


[  Western  University  of  Pennsylvania.'] 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  God  to  take  from  us  by  the  hand  of 
death,  Mr.  William  Thaw,  an  esteemed  and  valued  member  of  this 
Board  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  place  upon  record  this  minute  in  regard  to  one 
who  in  this  life  was  such  an  helpful  and  generous  friend,  and  even 
in  death  was  mindful  of  the  institution  committed  to  our  care. 

Mr.  Thaw  was  richly  endowed  with  varied  and  remarkable  gifts. 
He  possessed  unusual  powers  of  discernment,  sound  judgment  and  rare 
executive  ability,  which  enabled  him  to  prosecute  with  phenomenal 
success,  the  various  enterprises  in  which  he  engaged,  and  won  for  him 
ample  means,  as  well  as  a  high  and  honorable  position  in  the  business 
community.  He  was  by  nature  generous  ;  and  this  inherent  disposi- 
tion, sanctified  by  Divine  Grace,  made  him  keenly  alive  to  the  appeals 
of  the  suffering  and  the  unfortunate.  In  his. daily  experience  he  found 
it  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.  Realizing  that  wealth  was  a 
trust  committed  to  him  by  his  Creator,  his  life  was  characterized  by 
the  most  liberal  and  wide-spread  philanthropy.  Every  enterprise  cal- 
culated to  advance  the  interests  of  religion,  to  elevate  and  purify  human 
society,  to  widen  and  improve  the  sphere  of  human  knowledge,  to  re- 
lieve the  unfortunate,  or  to  mitigate  suffering,  found  in  him  an  ener- 
getic and  munificent  benefactor. 

From  the  time  he  became  a  trustee  of  the  University,  more  than 
twenty-eight  years  ago,  until  the  day  of  his  death,  he  was  constantly 
active  and  liberal  in  promoting  its  welfare.  Amid  his  many  cares  and 
anxieties,  and  the  ceaseless  demands  upon  his  time  and  attention,  he 
was  seldom  absent  from  our  meetings.  To  the  University  he  gave 
freely  of  his  time,  of  his  thought,  and  of  his  means ;  and  it  is  only  just 
to  say  that  but  for  his  earnest  efforts,  his  wise  counsel,  his  unfailing 

35 


liberality,  it  would  not  have  attained  its  present  prosperity,  or  have  the 
bright  prospects  of  future  usefulness  now  opening  so  hopefully  before  it. 
In  the  death  of  Mr.  Thaw  our  country  has  lost  an  honorable  and 
patriotic  citizen ;  our  community  an  honorable,  enterprising  and  useful 
member;  our  religious  and  charitable  institutions  an  interested,  unfail- 
ing and  generous  friend  ;  the  University  a  wise  counselor  and  liberal 
supporter;  and  the  cause  of  science  one  of  its  most  zealous  and  unself- 
ish benefactors. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  his  bereaved  family  our  most  sincere 
and  respectful  sympathy,  commending  them  in  their  great  sorrow  to 
Him  who  has  promised  to  be  a  husband  to  the  widow  and  a  father  to 
the  fatherless. 

William  Bake  well,   Chairman, 
John  G.  Brown,        Cortlandt  Whitehead, 
John  Harper,  R.  B.  Carnahan, 

Reuben  Miller,        M.  B.  Goff, 

Committee. 

Unanimously  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Western 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  October  28th,  1889. 

James  B.  Scott,  President, 
Joseph  F.  Griggs,  Secretary. 


[Minutes  adopted  September  11th,  1S89,  by  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Co/npany.~\ 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  following  is  a  true  and  correct  extract 
from  the  minutes,  of  action  had  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  held  at  the  office  of  the  Com- 
pany, in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  11th  day  of  September,  1889, 
namely  : 

The  President  announced  to  the  Board  the  death  of  their  late 
associate,  William  Thaw,  in  the  city  of  Paris,  on  Saturday,  the  17th 
of  August  last,  and  stated  that  Mr.  Thaw's  life-long  connection  with  the 
transportation  interests  of  the  country,  and  his  intimate  association  for 

36 


nearly  forty  years  with  the  lines  controlled  by  this  Company,  made  it 
eminently  proper  that  a  suitable  record  thereof  should  be  made  upon 
the  minutes. 

Mr.  Thaw  was  elected  a  member  of  this  Board  February  9th, 
1881 ;  but  had  been  since  1871  a  member  of  the  Board  and  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  Pennsylvania  Company  and  the  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  & 
St.  Louis  Railway  Company,  and  other  companies  controlled  west  of 
Pittsburgh,  and  before  the  organization  of  the  Pennsylvania  Company, 
had  been  one  of  the  promoters  of  the  Union  and  National  Lines,  the 
first  freight  organizations  to  furnish  through  service  to  shippers,  and 
facilitate  and  render  effective  the  movement  by  rail  of  interstate  com- 
merce. Before  the  incorporation  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 
pany, Mr.  Thaw  had  been  prominently  identified  with  the  steamboat 
lines  on  the  western  rivers,  and  with  the  canals  that,  in  connection  with 
the  other  State  Works  between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh,  formed 
the  important  avenues  for  traffic  between  Philadelphia  and  the  western 
cities.  Upon  the  opening  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  to  Pittsburgh, 
he  became  one  of  its  agents  in  charge  of  the  transfer  of  freight  at  that 
point,  and  rendered  most  valuable  service  until  the  through  rail  con- 
nections were  completed. 

It  has  only  been  within  the  last  year  that  the  condition  of  his 
health  interfered  with  the  performance  of  his  official  duties.  During 
his  entire  connection  with  the  interests  of  the  Company,  his  sound 
judgment,  ripe  experience,  and  quick  perception  rendered  him  one 
of  its  most  valued  and  trusted  counselors,  while  his  sterling  integ- 
rity and  genial  disposition  won  the  confidence  and  affection  of  his 
associates.  It  was  hoped  that  a  trip  abroad  would  be  of  permanent 
service  to  him,  but  a  sudden  attack  of  illness  in  Paris  soon  terminated 
fatally,  and  in  his  seventy-first  year  he  reached  the  end  of  a  more  than 
ordinarily  active  and  useful  life. 

The  Board  directed  that  the  foregoing  record  be  made  as  a  brief 
tribute  to  their  late  associate,  and  an  expression  of  the  deep  sorrow 
with  which  the  news  of  his  death  had  been  received,  and  also  that  a 
copy  of  the  same,  duly  certified,  should  be  transmitted  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased. 

Attest : 

Jno.  C.  Simms,  Jr., 
37  Secretary. 


[Pennsylvania    Compan  r.] 

I  hereby  certify  the  following  to  be  a  true  and  correct  extract  from 
the  minutes,  showing  action  had  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Company,  held  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on 
Wednesday,  September  11th,  1889,  relative  to  the  death  of  William 
Thaw,  namely : 

The  President  announced  to  the  Board  the  death  of  their  late 
associate,  William  Thaw,  in  the  city  of  Paris,  France,  on  Saturday,  the 
17th  of  August  last,  and  stated  that  Mr.  Thaw's  life-long  connection 
with  the  transportation  interests  of  the  country,  and  the  prominent 
part  taken  by  him  in  the  organization  of  this  Company,  and  the  con- 
duct of  its  affairs  from  the  date  of  its  charter  until  his  death,  made  it 
eminently  proper  that  a  suitable  record  thereof  be  made  upon  the 
minutes. 

Mr.  Thaw's  term  as  a  Director  of  this  Company  began  at  the  first 
meeting  of  its  stockholders,  held  June  1st,  1870,  and  continued  until 
his  death.  On  June  1st,  1870,  he  was  elected  by  the  Directors  as  its 
first  President.  He  was  elected  Vice  President  January  20th,  1871, 
and  held  that  office  until  his  death.  He  has  been  this  Company's  chief 
financial  officer  since  its  organization.  During  all  these  years  his  emi- 
nent abilities  were  devoted  to  shaping  the  policy  of  the  Company,  his 
singularly  bright  mind  enabling  him  to  solve  important  problems 
quickly  and  correctly,  and  thus  rendering  him  an  invaluable  aid  in  car- 
rying to  a  successful  conclusion  projects  vital  to  the  Company's  inter- 
ests. His  great  heart  endeared  him  to  all,  but  to  none  more  than  those 
who  were  associated  with  him  in  his  business  life,  who  were  the  daily  wit- 
nesses of  his  acts  of  charity,  his  readiness  to  help  the  worthy  who  sought 
his  aid,  and  who,  one  and  all,  are  indebted  to  him  personally  for  acts 
of  kindness  done  to  them,  in  one  way  or  other,  during  his  official 
career. 

Although  Mr.  Thaw  attained  last  fall  the  age  of  seventy  years, 
still  at  that  time  his  natural  vigor  was  such  as  to  indicate  many  more 
years  of  active  life.  He  was  taken  ill,  however,  in  February  of  this 
year,  and  was  confined  to  his  house  for  three  months,  after  which  he 
recovered    his  strength,  in  a    measure,  and  was  able  to    perform  his 

38 


official  duties.  He  sailed  for  Europe  July  10th  last,  with  the  hope  of 
complete  recovery,  but  was  stricken  with  sudden  illness  in  Paris,  and 
died  on  August  17th. 

In  directing  that  the  foregoing  record  be  made,  the  members  of 
this  Board  desire  at  the  same  time  to  express  their  extreme  sorrow  at 
the  loss  of  such  a  valued  associate  and  friend.  The  Secretary  was 
instructed  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  minute  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased. 

Attest : 

S.  B.  Liggett, 

Secretary. 


[Pittsburgh,    Cincinnati  &  St.  Louis  Railway   Company  7\ 

I  hereby  certify  the  following  to  be  a  true  and  correct  extract  from 
the  minutes,  showing  action  had  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  &  St.  Louis  Railway  Company,  held  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  Wednesday,  September  11th,  1889,  relative 
to  the  death  of  William  Thaw,  namely : 

The  President  announced  to  the  Board  the  death  of  their  late 
associate,  William  Thaw,  in  the  city  of  Paris,  France,  on  Saturday,  the 
17th  of  August  last,  and  stated  that  Mr.  Thaw's  life-long  connection 
with  the  transportation  interests  of  the  country,  and  the  prominent  part 
taken  by  him  in  the  conduct  of  this  Company's  affairs,  made  it  emi- 
nently proper  that  a  suitable  record  thereof  should  be  made  upon  the 
minutes. 

Mr.  Thaw  was  first  elected  a  Director  in  February,  1871,  and  so 
continued  until  his  death.  He  was  Vice  President  of  the  Company 
from  March  7th,  1871,  to  the  close  of  his  life,  serving  during  the  same 
period  as  its  chief  financial  officer.  During  all  these  years  his  eminent 
abilities  were  devoted  to  shaping  the  policy  of  the  Company,  his  singu- 
larly bright  mind  enabling  him  to  solve  important  problems  quickly 
and  correctly,  and  thus  rendering  him  an  invaluable  aid  in  carrying  to 
a  successful  conclusion  projects  vital  to  the  Company's  interests.  His 
great  heart  endeared  him  to  all,  but  to  none  more  than  those  who  were 
associated  with  him  in  his  business  life,  who  were  the  daily  witnesses 

39 


of  his  acts  of  charity,  his  readiness  to  help  the  worthy  who  sought  his 
aid,  and  who,  one  and  all,  are  indebted  to  him  personally  for  acts  of 
kindness  done  to  them,  in  one  way  or  other,  during  his  official  career. 

Although  Mr.  Thaw  attained  last  fall  the  age  of  seventy  years, 
still  at  that  time  his  natural  vigor  was  such  as  to  indicate  many  more 
years  of  active  life.  He  was  taken  ill,  however,  in  February  of  this 
year,  and  was  confined  to  his  house  for  three  months,  after  which  he 
recovered  his  strength,  in  a  measure,  and  was  able  to  perform  his 
official  duties.  He  sailed  for  Europe  July  10th  last,  with  the  hope  of 
complete  recovery,  but  was  stricken  with  sudden  illness  in  Paris,  and 
died  on  August  17th. 

In  directing  that  the  foregoing  record  be  made,  the  members  of 

this   Board  desire  at  the  same  time  to  express  their  extreme  sorrow  at 

the   loss   of  such   a   valued  associate  and  friend.     The  Secretary  was 

instructed  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  minute  to  the  family  of 

the  deceased. 

Attest : 

S.  B.  Liggett, 

Secretary. 


[  Chicago,  St.  Louis  d-  Pittsburgh  Railroad  Co?npany7\ 

I  hereby  certify  the  following  to  be  a  true  and  correct  extract 
from  the  minutes,  showing  action  had  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  the  Chicago,  St.  Louis  &  Pittsburgh  Railroad  Company, 
held  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  on  Wednesday,  September  11th,  1889, 
relative  to  the  death  of  William  Thaw,  namely: 

The  President  announced  to  the  Board  the  death  of  their  late 
associate,  William  Thaw,  in  the  city  of  Paris,  France,  on  Saturday,  the 
17th  of  August  last,  and  stated  that  Mr.  Thaw's  life-long  connection 
with  the  transportation  interests  of  the  country,  and  the  prominent  part 
taken  by  him  in  the  conduct  of  this  Company's  affairs,  made  it  emi- 
nently proper  that  a  suitable  record  thereof  should  be  made  upon  the 
minutes. 

Mr.  Thaw  was  first  elected  a  Director  and  Vice  President  in  April, 
1884,  and  so  continued  until  his  death,  serving  during  the  same  period 

40 


as  its  chief  financial  officer.  During  these  years  his  eminent  abilities 
were  devoted  to  shaping  the  policy  of  the  Company,  his  singularly 
bright  mind  enabling  him  to  solve  important  problems  quickly  and 
correctly,  and  thus  rendering  him  an  invaluable  aid  in  carrying  to  a 
successful  conclusion  projects  vital  to  the  Company's  interests.  His 
great  heart  endeared  him  to  all,  but  to  none  more  than  those  who 
were  associated  with  him  in  his  business  life,  who  were  the  daily 
witnesses  of  his  acts  of  charity,  his  readiness  to  help  the  worthy  who 
sought  his  aid,  and  who,  one  and  all,  are  indebted  to  him  personally 
for  acts  of  kindness  done  to  them,  in  one  way  or  other,  during  his 
official  career. 

Although  Mr.  Thaw  attained  last  fall  the  age  of  seventy  years,  still 
at  that  time  his  natural  vigor  was  such  as  to  indicate  many  more  years  of 
active  life.  He  was  taken  ill,  however,  in  February  of  this  year,  and 
was  confined  to  his  house  for  three  months,  after  which  he  recovered 
his  strength,  in  a  measure,  and  was  able  to  perform  his  official  duties. 
He  sailed  for  Europe  July  10th  last,  with  the  hope  of  complete 
recovery,  but  was  stricken  with  sudden  illness  in  Paris,  and  died  on 
August  17th. 

In  directing  that  the  foregoing  record  be  made,  the  members  of 
this  Board  desire  at  the  same  time  to  express  their  extreme  sorrow  at 
the  loss  of  such  a  valued  associate  and  friend.  The  Secretary  was 
instructed  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  minute  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased. 

Attest : 

S.  B.  Liggett, 

Secretary. 


[Minute   adopted  at  a   meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  held  at 

the  Office  of  the  International  Navigation   Company, 

Philadelphia,  February  5th,  1890.] 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board,  held  this  date,  the  President  announced 
that  William  Thaw,  Esq.,  one  of  their  members,  had  died,  after  a  brief 
illness,  in  the  city  of  Paris,  France,  on  August  17th,  1889  ;  whereupon, 
on  motion,  it  was  ordered  that  the  following  be  spread  upon  the 
minutes  of  the  Board: 

6  41 


It  is  with  deep  regret  and  profound  sorrow  that  this  Board  learns 
of  the  death  of  its  late  fellow  member,  William  Thaw,  Esq.  Mr. 
Thaw's  association  with  the  affairs  of  this  Company  commenced  with 
its  organization  in  May,  1871.  he  having  been  one  of  the  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  Board.  The  Company  was  therefore  fortunate,  at  its  very 
inception,  in  having  Mr.  Thaw  in  its  counsels.  His  standing  as  one  of 
the  foremost  managers  of  transportation  interests  in  this  country,  his 
rare  abilities  as  an  organizer  of  corporate  service,  his  various  and  com- 
plete business  experiences,  made  his  counsel,  personal  acts  and  aid,  of 
the  highest  value.  Every  substantial  progress  and  ultimate  success  in 
the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  this  Company  are  associated  with 
his  efforts  and  name.  Mr.  Thaw's  sterling  integrity  and  personal  vir- 
tues endeared  him  to  his  associates.  He  was  an  earnest,  true  friend, 
wise  and  kindly  in  counsel,  charitable  in  judgments,  quick  and  kindly 
in  his  sympathies  for  all  who  appealed  to  him.  We  are  now  to  miss 
this  valued  business  associate  and  personal  companion  and  friend 
always,  but  we  treasure  his  memory  forever. 

Attest : 

J.  E.    HOAVELL, 

Secretary  pro  tern. 


\_Extracts  from  Proceedings  of  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers 
07i  the  death  of   William  Thazv.~\ 

By  the  death,  at  the  city  of  Paris,  on  August  17th,  1889,  of 
William  Thaw,  Fellow  of  this  Society,  there  passed  away  in  the  prime 
of  his  usefulness,  a  noble  specimen  of  the  type  of  man,  who,  without 
being  a  member  of  the  profession,  is  such  as  the  profession  delights  to 
honor.  Mr.  Thaw  was  identified  with  the  transportation  interests  of 
this  country  in  a  remarkable  manner,  being  engaged,  when  in  his 
seventeenth  year,  in  the  forwarding  business  as  a  clerk,  and  in  his 
twenty-second  year  having,  in  connection  with  Thomas  S.  Clarke, 
formed  the  firm  of  Clarke  &  Thaw,  canal  and  steamboat  owners  and 
transporters,  which  firm  continued  in  business  until  1855.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  Mr.  Thaw  was  Second  Vice  President  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Company,  controlling  the  Pennsylvania  lines  west  of  Pitts- 

42 


burgh,  so  that  an  active  business  life  of  almost  fifty  years  was  spent  in 
developing  the  business  transportation  from  a  humble  beginning  on 
the  Pennsylvania  Canal  to  this  magnificent  fruition  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  as  it  is  to-day. 

It  was  a  remarkable  fact,  that  within  the  space  of  less  than  half  of 
Mr.  Thaw's  life  he  saw  the  rise,  the  success  and  the  fall  of  the  system 
of  transportation  used  on  the  Pennsylvania  Canal  and  the  Portage  Rail- 
road, a  system  which,  when  in  the  height  of  its  usefulness,  seemed  to 
leave  nothing  more  to  be  desired. 

Mr.  Thaw  was  a  man  of  great  public  spirit,  and  he  took  an  active 
interest  in  all  movements  to  advance  or  likely  to  elevate  his  fellow  men. 
His  immense  fortune  was  most  worthily  used  in  both  public  and  pri- 
vate beneficence,  but  Mr.  Thaw  was  a  philanthropist  at  heart,  and  one 
who  greatly  preferred  to  bestow  his  gifts  in  such  a  manner  that  his 
left  hand  would  not  know  what  his  right  hand  did.  His  gifts  to  the 
Western  University  of  Pennsylvania  amounted  to  between  three 
hundred  and  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  while  his  charitable 
donations,  from  first  to  last,  must  have  amounted  to  millions.  The 
expedition  made  to  Mount  Whitney,  in  Southern  California,  by 
Professor  Langley,  from  which  such  admirable  scientific  results  were 
obtained,  was  largely  possible  through  the  help  of  Mr.  Thaw,  who 
furnished  the  necessary  and  delicate  apparatus  for  the  expedition. 

Mr.  Thaw  was  a  great  reader,  and  was  remarkably  well  informed 
upon  a  large  range  of  subjects.  He  was  also  a  good  listener,  and  was 
always  glad  to  receive  information  of  value  from  any  person,  no  matter 
how  humble  his  position.  Though  impetuous  in  temperament  and 
persistent  in  the  assertion  of  his  convictions,  he  was  always  willing  to 
change  his  views  when  convinced  they  were  wrong  ;  but  whoever 
assumed  to  set  him  right  must  be  well  prepared  on  the  question  for 
discussion,  for  Mr.  Thaw  had  a  rare  command  of  facts  and  language, 
and  always  delivered  himself  with  earnestness,  his  reasoning  being 
based  on  his  moral  convictions  of  right  and  duty,  and  never  on  mere 
speculations,  such  as  policy  or  expediency  might  suggest.  In  the 
social  walks  of  life  he  was  all  that  kindness  could  require  or  courtesy 
could  expect,  buoyant  in  disposition,  mild  and  gentle  in  his  intercourse 
with  his  fellow  men,  and  strictly  upright  in  all  his  dealings.  He  was 
well  entitled  to  the  high  rank  which  he  had  attained;  his  character  in 

43 


all  its  elements  was  beyond  reproach  and  his  reputation  without  a  stain. 
His  large  benefactions,  his  sympathy  for  the  sick  and  suffering  and 
those  whose  calamities  have  made  their  lives  bitter  and  full  of  sorrow, 
and  his  constant  efforts  for  the  advance  of  projects  of  a  humane  char- 
acter, have  won  for  him  the  admiration  and  love  of  his  fellow  citizens. 
He  has  shown  how  wealth  may  be  made  to  benefit  the  many,  and  in 
a  plain,  unassuming  way,  has  passed  through  life,  and  will  long  be 
remembered  for  his  good  deeds. 

Mr.  Thaw  became  a  Fellow  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil 
Engineers  August  30th,  1871,  and  he  was  also  a  subscriber  to  its 
building  fund.  He  was  interested  in  all  branches  of  science,  and  par- 
ticularly in  those  pertaining  to  the  transportation  interests,  so  that  he 
was  always  willing  to  aid  in  any  project  for  the  advancement  of 
engineering  or  in  the  interest  of  engineers. 


[  Grand  Army7\ 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Grand  Army 
Posts  of  Allegheny  County,  Pa.,  held  August  24,  1889,  the  following 
resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted: 

By  the  death  of  William  Thaw,  this  community  mourns  the  loss 
of  a  Christian  gentleman  and  a  public  spirited  citizen,  who  stood  fore- 
most in  the  ranks  of  this  city's  business  men,  a  philanthropist  in 
the  true  sense,  and  a  humanitarian  to  whom  the  appeals  of  the  dis- 
tressed were  not  made  in  vain,  always  ready  to  assist  the  deserving  and 
friendless,  his  life  was  passed  in  unostentatious  and  true  charities. 
The  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  in  general,  and  of  this  vicinity  in  par- 
ticular, has  lost  a  steadfast  friend  and  supporter,  whose  liberality  made 
comfortable  the  journey  of  many  a  worthy  and  unfortunate  old  comrade, 
and  brought  joy  to  the  house  of  mourning  of  the  widow  and  orphan. 
His  generosity  enabled  us  to  practically  maintain  the  great  purpose  of 
our  Order,  assisted  us  materially  in  the  success  of  our  public  occasions 

44 


of  Memorial,  and  Grand  Array  days,  and  also  of  our  exhibitions  and 
entertainments  for  the  benefit  of  our  charity  fund. 

Resolved,  That  we  most  deeply  deplore  his  death,  which  to  us  is 
an  irreparable  loss,  and  to  the  public  a  calamity. 

To  the  bereaved  family  we  tender  our  sincere  sympathy,   trusting 
the  Divine  Master  will  sustain  them  in  their  affliction. 

Resolved,  That  this   minute  and    resolutions  be  spread  upon   the 
records,  and  a  copy  transmitted  to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

W.  H.  Lambert, 
Thos.  G.  Sample, 
N.  J.  Patterson, 

Committee. 


[Honoring  a  Benefactor.      The  Pittsburgh  Press  Club  takes  action  on 
William  Thaw  s  death.'] 

A  special  meeting  of  the  Press  Club  was  held  yesterday  afternoon 
to  take  action  on  the  death  of  William  Thaw,  who  was  one  of  the  asso- 
ciate members  of  that  organization.  President  Connelly  presided  and 
announced  the  object  of  the  meeting.  G.  F.  Muller,  E.  S.  Morrow 
and  George  H.  Welshons  were  appointed  a  Committee  on  Resolutions, 
and  prepared  the  following  : 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  an  all-wise  Providence  to  remove  from 
the  world  William  Thaw,  a  life  associate  member  of  this  Club  ;  there- 
fore, be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  express  our  sincere  and  heartfelt  sorrow  at  the 
death  of  one  whose  life  was  rich  in  good  deeds,  whose  example  was 
worthy  of  all  imitation  and  whose  own  life  is  his  best  monument  : 
further, 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  the  Pittsburgh  Press  Club  be 
appointed  to  be  present  at  the  funeral. 


45 


[  Tribute  to  the  Dead  of  1889,  of  the  Board  of  Corporators  of  the 
Allegheny  Cemetery  7\ 

The  report  of  last  year  contained  the  statement  that  no  death  had 
occurred  in  either  the  Board  of  Directors  or  Corporators,  and  conse- 
quently no  vacancy  existed.  To-day,  the  conditions  are  sadly  reversed. 
In  quick  succession,  three  of  our  number  whose  names  were  familiar 
and  loved  in  Pittsburgh  households  were  taken  from  the  roll  of  incor- 
porators and  managers  of  Allegheny  Cemetery,  and  their  loss  was  felt 
and  mourned  not  less  by  every  charitable  and  benevolent  enterprise 
existing  in  our  cities. 

The  volume  of  spontaneous  tributes  from  the  press,  and  from  the 
varied  institutions  with  which  they  had  been  connected,  attested  the 
affectionate  regard  and  high  honor  in  which  they  were  held.  In  each 
instance  the  allotted  space  of  life  had  been  exceeded,  and  it  was  given 
to  them  to  see  the  marvellous  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  cities  to 
which  they  had  so  largely  contributed.  After  fulfilling  so  well  life's 
destiny,  and  leaving  the  fragrance  of  their  integrity,  benevolence,  and 
good  will  to  men,  they  sleep  peacefully  in  the  beautiful  spot  to  which 
they  had  given  much  of  their  living  care  and  thought. 

The  first  one  to  whom  the  summons  came  to  higher  service  was 
William  Thaw,  born  in  Pittsburgh,  October,  1818.  He  was  educated 
in  the  Western  University,  and  after  a  short  preliminary  business 
training,  he  engaged  in  the  forwarding  and  commission  business,  and 
in  1840  the  historic  firm  of  Clarke  &  Thaw  was  formed,  which  con- 
tinued until  1855,  finally  issuing  in  the  Star  Union  Line. 

Mr.  Thaw  was  intimately  connected  with  the  history,  wonder- 
ful growth,  and  remarkable  changes,  in  the  methods  of  transportation, 
especially  those  affecting  Pittsburgh.  He  followed  with  keenest  inter- 
est all  the  gradations  from  the  Connestoga  wagon,  superseded  by  the 
canal  boats,  and  they  in  turn  by  railway  cars. 

In  all  these  evolutions,  his  resolute  will,  sagacity  and  wonderful 
ability  were  important  factors,  and  the  great  railway  systems  owe  much 
of  their  present  perfection  to  his  brilliant  intellect  and  far-seeing  wis- 
dom. Possessed  of  a  wonderfully  acute  and  observant  mind,  his 
impetuous  temperament  well  under  control,  a  wise  caution,  and  sound 

46 


judgment  gave  to  his  business  career  a  brilliancy  and  efficiency  attained 
by  few. 

To  his  Alma  Mater,  the  Western  University,  he  ever  evinced  the 
most  generous  interest,  and  any  effort  in  the  direction  of  literary  and 
scientific  advancement  met  with  his  certain  and  abundant  sympathy 
and  support.  His  splendid  business  achievements  and  intellectual 
endowments  may  be  unrecognized  or  forgotten  in  the  passage  of  years, 
but  the  characteristic  which  made  William  Thaw  peerless  among  his 
fellows  and  enshrined  his  memory  in  every  heart,  is  imperishable, 
namely,  his  warm  living  love  for  his  fellow  men,  his  kindling  eye,  his 
ready  tear,  his  almost  divine  benevolence,  flowed  unstintedly  and  unos- 
tentatiously to  every  class  and  condition,  possibly  sometimes  to  the 
undeserving ;  in  this  he  touched  most  closely  the  divine  attribute. 
His  sympathetic  nature  was  ever  young  and  ever  responsive.  Though 
age  and  disease  were  inevitable,  nothing  could  arrest  this  outflow  of 
helpful  compassion  and  sympathy  for  the  suffering  and  needy,  except 
the  hand  of  death. 

His  heart  was  kept  young,  and  in  touch  with  all  the  world,  by 
his  wonderful  interest  in  everything  about  him.  Those  who  enjoyed 
his  friendship  can  easily  recall  his  almost  boyish  enthusiasm,  his  love 
for  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  art,  his  charming  reminiscences  of 
Pittsburgh's  early  history,  his  nobility  of  nature,  having  room  in  his 
great  heart  for  every  creed,  color,  and  condition. 

To  attempt  to  outline  such  a  life,  or  picture  the  loss  to  his  family, 
city,  country,  or  the  world  at  large,  would  be  an  impossible  task,  nor 
are  words  of  eulogy  needed.  Generations  must  pass  away  ere  the  name 
of  Pittsburgh's  cherished  and  most  noble  son,  William  Thaw,  can  be 
forgotten.  He  was  entrusted  with  large  means,  and  grandly  did  he 
administer  the  trust.  No  worthy  cause  appealed  to  him  in  vain.  To 
the  church  of  his  choice,  his  gifts  were  unostentatious,  but  magnificent ; 
to  the  regularly  authorized  channels  he  contributed  steadily,  thence 
blessing  the  debased  and  neglected  in  our  own  land,  and  giving  light 
to  thousands  in  the  far  off  heathen  world.  He  was  a  cosmopolitan  in 
the  finest  sense  ;  his  sympathies  had  a  world-wide  field,  and  when 
the  cable  flashed  that  unutterably  sad  message,  it  was  as  if  a  public 
calamity  had  befallen  us.  He  died  in  Paris,  France,  August,  1889. 
Loving  and  reverent  hands  brought  him  home, and  laid  him  beside  his 

47 


loved  ones  in  this  beautiful  place  he  had  cared  for  with  so  much 
watchful  solicitude.     Surely  he  sleeps  well. 

Almost  the  last  public  meeting  he  attended  before  his  trip  in 
search  of  health,  was  the  meeting  of  the  Corporators  of  Allegheny 
Cemetery,  held  June  29th,  in  the  chapel  of  the  new  gateway.  His 
earnest  words  and  evident  jealous  guardianship  of  the  seclusion  and 
sanctity  of  the  place,  and  his  warm  approval  of  plans  to  prevent 
encroachment  upon  these  grounds  in  the  years  to  come,  were  proofs  that, 
amid  all  the  important  and  incessant  demands  made  upon  his  time, 
he  always  reserved  a  portion  in  which  to  give  his  aid  and  valuable 
co-operation. 

The  Board  of  Corporators  desire,  then,  unitedly,  and  with  sincere 
and  saddened  hearts,  to  lay  this  tribute  upon  the  grave  of  one  whom  it 
was  a  privilege  to  know  and  love  in  life,  and  equally  our  sacred  privi- 
lege, while  we  shall  always  mourn  his  loss,  to  preserve  as  a  legacy  of 
rare  value,  the  memory  of  his  noble  life. 


[/;/  Memory  of  William  Thazv.     Resolutions  adopted  by  the  Board  of 

Managers  of  the  Allegheny  Cemetery,  at  a  meeting  held 

Friday,  October  4th,  1889.~] 

The  members  of  this  Board,  with  a  profound  sense  of  the  loss 
which  they  have  suffered  in  the  death  of  Mr.  William  Thaw,  and  with 
grateful  recollections  of  the  intercourse  which  they  have  enjoyed  with 
him  through  so  many  years,  desire  to  place  on  record  this  memorial, 
that  those  who  come  after  him  in  the  management  of  this  corporation 
may  know  how  he  was  esteemed  as  a  man,  and  loved  as  a  friend. 

In  the  meetings  of  the  Board  he  was  one  to  whom  we  instinctively 
turned  for  counsel  and  advice.  His  comprehension  of  a  business  prob- 
lem was  unusually  quick.  His  decision  was  almost  as  rapid,  and  his 
judgment  was  rarely  at  fault.  He  was  a  model  business  man  and  gave 
to  this  Company  his  heartiest  services.  To  him  it  was  no  more  a  duty 
than  a  labor  of  love  to  guard  and  protect  the  City  of  the  Dead,  whose 
silent  inhabitants  were  beyond  caring  for  themselves. 

48 


He  loved  Allegheny  Cemetery,  and  we  believe  he  watched  and 
guarded  its  interests  with  a  more  jealous  care  than  he  gave  to  any 
other  business  committed  to  him.  For  it,  he  was  earnest,  active, 
watchful  j  jealous  of  any  infringement  upon  its  rights,  and  anxious  to 
throw  around  it  every  protection  which  could  shelter  it  in  years  to 
come.  To  perpetuate,  to  beautify,  and  to  adorn  this  silent  home  of  the 
dead,  he  gave  the  best  thoughts  of  his  head  and  heart,  and  although  his 
last  days  were  spent  in  a  foreign  land,  yet  loving  hands  have  borne 
him  back  and  reverently  laid  him  in  the  spot  which  he  himself  had 
prepared.     No  citizen  more  worthy  has  been  carried  within  its  gates. 

But  it  is  as  a  friend  we  shall  best  love  to  think  of  him.  The 
affection  which  he  called  forth  was  as  spontaneous  as  the  admiration  he 
excited,  as  a  man.  He  was  the  incarnation  of  sympathy.  He  recog- 
nized a  want  before  it  was  expressed,  and  gave  relief  before  it  was 
asked.  His  heart  was  great  enough  to  encircle  the  world,  and  his 
bounty  fell  like  the  dew  of  heaven  in  silent  blessings  upon  the  poor 
and  distressed  of  every  land. 

Charles  J.  Clarke, 

Attest :  President. 

James  R.  Speer, 

Secretary. 


[The  Union    Veteran  Legion  ] 

"The  members  of  Encampment  No.  1,  Union  Veteran  Legion,  de- 
sire to  unite  with  their  fellow  citizens  in  paying  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  the  late  William  Thaw. 

"He  was  born  in  Pittsburgh.  His  whole  life  was  spent  here. 
From  early  manhood  he  was  identified  with  Pittsburgh's  growth  and 
advancement.  His  various  business  interests  brought  him  in  contact 
with  people  in  every  condition  in  life,  and  he  secured  and  retained  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  all.  By  his  generous  recognition  of  worth  in 
others  many  attained  success,  whose  merits  and  genius  might,  other- 
wise, never  have  been  considered. 

"During  the  late  war  no  one  in  this  patriotic  community  contrib- 
uted more  liberally,  or  more  willingly,  to  the  Union  cause.    He  also  made 

7  49 


a  reality  the  pledge  that  while  the  soldier  was  at  the  front  his  family 
should  not  want.  The  widow  and  orphan,  the  maimed  and  unfortunate 
old  soldier,  all  these  profited  by  his  benefactions. 

"His  public  spirit,  his  unostentatious  giving,  his  genuine  Christi- 
anity, were  characteristics  of  broad  philanthropy  and  true  greatness. 
He  was  indeed  Pittsburgh's  first  citizen,  and  we  shall  not  soon  look 
upon  his  like. 

"  To  his  family  and  friends  we  tender  our  sincere  sympathy  in 
their  great  bereavement,  but  especially  to  Mrs.  Thaw,  whose  brothers, 
our  comrades,  one  of  whom  fills  an  unknown  grave,  gave  their  lives 
that  constitutional  authority  might  be  maintained,  and  equal  rights 
be  secured  to  all.     We  honor  the  memory  of  William  Thaw." 


50 


APPENDIX. 

This  Memoir  of  Mr.  Thaw,  prepared  by  her  who,  for  over  a 
score  of  years,  stood  nearest  to  him,  is  intended  more  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  much  that  has  already  been  published,  than  for  the  introduction 
of  any  new  matter.  The  aim  throughout  has  been  to  make  it  as  im- 
personal as  possible,  and  therefore  it  was  not  in  the  thought  of  the 
compiler  to  have  any  letters  introduced.  Later  consideration,  how- 
ever, shows  how  incomplete  it  would  be  without  a  few  of  his  own 
letters,  illustrative  of  some  of  the  interests  which  claimed  his  at- 
tention, as  well  as  his  own  clear,  quick  grasp  of  the  questions  sub- 
mitted, and  manner  of  dealing  with  each.  The  first  we  give  might 
stand  as  a  sample  of  many.  If  the  names  of  those  referred  to  were 
given,  they  would  be  immediately  recognized. 

Pittsburgh,  June  14,  1882. 

"  Dear  Mr.  : 

In  reply  to  your  note,  I  would  say  that  it  would  please  me  to 
have  you  propose  unconditionally,  except  as  to  time  of  leaving  you,  to 

provide  for  Mr. 's  visit  to  Europe,  and  his  outlay  while  prosecuting 

study  there,  for  a  year — giving  him  means  to  avail  of  the  very  best 
advantages  for  such  studies.  If  he  will  go,  I  shall  be  glad  to  meet  him 
several  times  in  the  interval,  informally,  for  mutual  acquaintance. 

I  take  such  satisfaction  in  making  exceptional  endowment  find  its 
way  to  its  proper  development,  without  waste  of  power  upon  details 
along  its  way,  that  my  interest  in  this  matter  is  its  own  compensation  ; 

while  I  indulge  in  such  interventions  so  often,  that  Mr.  need  not 

feel  under  any  personal  obligation  to  me,  beyond  making  such  good  use 
of  his  opportunities  as  will  qualify  him  for  high  class  original  research, 
men  really  completely  endowed  for  which  are,  I  know,  very  rare." 

It  was  thus  he  removed  obstacles,  and  pushed  forward  those  capable 
of  reaching  high  positions  in  life,  while  keeping  himself  quite  out  of 

51 


sight.  Where  could  more  disinterested  motives  be  found  than  those 
given  here?  The  language  would  almost  imply  he  was  receiving, 
rather  than  conferrins:  a  favor. 


The  next  will  be  of  interest  mainly  as  showing  the  kind  of  read- 
ing he  would  take  up  for  relaxation  after  a  day  of  care.  Instead  of 
turning  to  light  literature,  requiring  but  little  thought,  his  habit  was, 
as  he  expressed  it,  to  "bend  the  mind  in  another  direction,"  and  so 
refresh  himself  by  changing  the  current  of  thought.  It  would  scarcely 
be  possible  to  compress  more  into  words,  than  is  done  in  this  note, 
which  was  fastened  to  the  magazines  referred  to.  It  was  a  method 
he  frequently  used  for  calling  the  attention  of  different  members  of 
his  family  to  what  had  especially  interested  him. 

"  I  want  Will,  Ben,  and  W.  H.  Thompson,  to  read,  first  the  Francis 
Walker  article  on  Socialism  in  the  Scribner,  and  get  into  their  minds 
the  significance  of  this  drift,  synthetically,  towards  a  more  practical 
recognition  of  the  rights  of  humanity.  Then  read  the  article  in  Political 
Science  Quarterly,  on  Rodbertus,  the  hitherto  unknown  Socrates  of 
philosophical  socialism,  and  there  get  the  theory  analytically  set  forth 
of  a  perfect  community.  It  is  a  beautiful  theory — only,  it  substitutes 
the  State  to  perform,  mechanically,  what  the  Christian  religion,  fully 
carried  out,  would  impel  individuals,  families  and  communities  to  ac- 
complish, as  far  as  the  fact  of  a  perverted  and  criminal  human  nature 
will  ever  permit.  As  Francis  Murphy  says  of  Temperance:  'If  law 
could  save  the  people,  Moses  would  have  been  the  Christ.'  The  same 
fallacy  underlies  the  beautiful  and  profound  theories  of  Rodbertus,  who 
was  not,  you  will  see,  a  modern  socialist  in  his  method.  He  wanted 
live  hundred  years  to  do  it,  without  injury  to  a  single  good  thing,  now 
existing,  in  society  among  men.  I  send  these  books,  and  write  this  note 
because  you  will  all  probably  outlive  me  long  enough  to  see  the  fur- 
ther development  of  these  social  (in  a  technical  sense)  forces,  and  I 
would  like  you  now  to  be  informing  yourselves  intelligently  and 
thoroughly  on  both,  or  all,  sides  of  these  questions,  as  part  of  your 
equipment  for  your  own  work  in  the  world. 


52 


The  following  extracts  are  from  letters  to  an  old  friend,  some  years 
his  senior.  To  such  workers  Mr.  Thaw's  great  heart  of  sympathy  was 
ever  open,  delighting  in  making  their  summer  vacations  bright  by  pro- 
viding the  means  for  visits  to  seaside  or  mountains,  and  doing  this 
while  he  himself  rarely  ceased  his  own  arduous  labor.  He  seemed  to 
take  his  own  holidays  and  recreation  thus — by  proxy — finding  more 
pleasure  in  sending  others  than  in  going  himself. 

[Extracts  from  letters  to   Dr.   Tuttle,  President  of    Wabash   College] 

Pittsburgh,  December  3d,  1883. 

"  I  hope  you  w'll  have  an  enjoyable  visit  East.  Your  missing  the 
train  by  change  of  time,  and  the  consequent  trial  of  temper,  while  you 
bear  great  anxieties  without  a  sign,  is  one  of  those  unaccountable  things 
in  which  my  own  experience  abounds.  The  miserable  little  blunders 
and  mishaps,  which  ought  not  to  happen,  as  we  think,  who  have  con- 
sumed ourselves  in  organizing  work  that  should  go  right  every  time,  and 
never  fail,  are  just  those  which  overcome  us;  while  great  cares  and 
anxieties,  in  which  we  feel  ourselves  to  be  somewhat  helpless  factors 
and  sufferers,  we  accept,  as  allotted  by  Providence,  and  so  summon  all 
our  powers  to  endure,  and  find  gain,  even  in  trial  and  loss.  On  the 
whole  I  do  not  know  but  what  serenity  under  provoking,  but  insignifi- 
cant, cares  and  annoyances,  is  among  the  highest  attainments  of  both 
grace  and  nature;  and  it  certainly  has  much  to  do  with  average  daily 
comfort,  *******  You  may  be  sure  of  my  confidence 
and  sympathy  always,  when  you  break  over,  and  the  deep  concern  will 
come  to  the  surface,  and  seek  expression.  What  a  world  it  is,  and 
what  a  condition  of  existence  do  they  accept,  who  have  no  higher  reli- 
ance than  human  wisdom  can  give  them." 

Pittsburgh,  June  30th,  1884. 

"  I  return,  enclosed,  the  letter  of  the  parents  of  your  student,  who  lias 
come  to  fruitage  so  early.  It  must  indeed  be  a  great  encouragement  to 
you  to  behold  such  results.  Planting  beside  all  waters,  and  knowing 
that  the  waste  of  human  possibilities  is  almost  as  that  of  the  acorns  to 
the  oaks,  it  is  an  unspeakable  satisfaction  to  see  instances  like  this. 
Doubtless  there  are  many  more  than  those  which  come  to  your  knowl- 

53 


edge,  who  are,  if  not  in  the  ministry,  in  other  good  and  useful  callings. 
*  *  *  But  I  could  wish  you  might  enjoy  the  comfort  and  stimulus 
of  such  evidence  of  the  value  of  your  work  every  day  in  the  year." 

Pittsburgh,  April  3d,  1885. 
"  I  return  the  Japanese  English  exercise.  I  think  the  theory  of 
the  unity  of  the  races  is  vindicated,  when  a  pure  blooded  descendant 
of  a  people,  with  an  authentic  history  reaching  back  centuries  before 
Socrates,  yet  entirely  unknown  to  all  the  world  except  China — until 
Socrates  had  been  buried  some  seventeen  centuries — can  thus  come  to 
the  front,  at  a  bound,  as  a  student  of  the  Greek  language.     *        * 

The  brief  extracts  from  letters  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kellogg  show  the 
interest  he  felt  in  the  work  of  this  eminent  scholar  and  theologian. 
The  friendship  was  a  warm  one,  and  mutually  helpful  and  stimulating. 

\_Extr  act  from  letters  to  Rev.  Di'.  S.  H.  Kellogg.\ 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  April  30th,  1888. 
"  I  have  to  thank  you  for  sending  me  your  article  in  the 
Bibliotheca  Sacra*  It  is  quite  surprising  how  the  whole  ground  can 
be  gone  over  in  so  short  a  space,  and  how  clearly  it  is  made  to  appear 
that  your  views  are  scripturally  right,  first;  and  next,  are  not  only 
compatible  with,  but  go  to  produce  and  maintain,  the  highest  type  of 
orthodox  Christianity. 

After  all,  though,  my  dear  sir,  it  is  the  demonstration  you  make 
nl'  a  perfectly  courteous  and  tender  handling  of  opposing  views,  when 
your  own  armory  is  full  of  Scripture  weapons,  and  your  opponents 
have  invited  rough  rejoinder,  that  I  most  admire;  both  for  its  own 
excellence  as  a  Christian  grace,  and  as  an  evidence — always  weighty 
with  impartial  people — of  your  own  profound  and  serene  conviction  of 
the  truth  of  your  own  argument. 

We  are  all  well.  I  trust  you  are  not  quite  consuming  your  own 
strength  and  powers,  though  the  work  you  get  through  seems  wonder- 
ful to  me." 


*  In  the  number  for  April,  1888,   on  ''Premillennialism;  its  Relation  to  Doctrine 
and  Practice." 

54 


Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  October  1st,  II 
"  I  have  read  with  great  satisfaction  your  interesting  letter 
of  the  24th.  It  would  seem  indeed  that  your  Hindi  work  on  its  own 
merits  has  obtained  its  place,  where  you  hardly  expected  to  place  it 
without  a  good  deal  of  effort  and  influence.  All  this  is  a  pleasant  jus- 
tification of  your  purpose  to  revise  and  re-issue  the  Grammar,  and  gives 
you  a  place  quite  enviable  among  philologists,  and  of  wide  and  abiding 
character.  I  hope  your  new  Bible  undertaking  may  be,  as  you  think, 
so  blended  with  your  pulpit  work  as  to  add  but  little  to  the  strain  upon 
the  vital  machinery  your  untiring  mind  has  to  employ.  If  it  be  so, 
you  may  not  have  risked  too  much ;  but  do  not  be  betrayed  into  a  per- 
manent visual  injury, — if  you  find  you  have  undertaken  too  much." 


Between  Mr.  Thaw  and  Professor  S.  P.  Langley,  for  so  many  years 
Director  of  the  Allegheny  Observatory,  the  most  intimate  friendship 
existed.  This  was  strengthened  by,  and  indeed  grew  out  of,  the  rela- 
tions each  bore  to  that  institution,  as  well  as  from  a  similarity  of  taste 
and  feeling  in  regard  to  that  special  line  of  scientific  work.  It  will  never 
be  known  how  much  time  and  thought,  as  well  as  means,  Mr.  Thaw 
gave  to  this  institution,  probably  the  favorite  among  all  his  interests. 
By  the  joint  efforts  of  these  two  men,  it  may  safely  be  said,  was  the 
Observatory  lifted  from  a  condition  of  mere  existence,  into  the  position 
it  now  occupies.  The  few  extracts  from  his  letters,  given  here,  will 
help  to  keep  alive  in  the  recollection  of  some,  the  share  that  Mr.  Thaw 
had  in  this  developement. 

The  first  refers  to  the  outlay  furnished  by  him  for  the  expedition 
to  Mount  Whitney,  in  addition  to  the  inadequate  provision  made  for  it 
by  the  United  States  Government,  under  whose  auspices  it  was  carried 
out.  Professor  Brashear  refers  to  this  in  his  letter,  which  is  republished 
in  this  volume.  It  is  described  more  fully  in  Prof.  Langley's  large 
work,  uOur  New  Astronomy." 

The  note  of  congratulation,  which  follows  this,  speaks  for  itself. 
The  keen  analysis  of  the  elements  which  make  up  popular  opinion,  adds 
special  interest  to  this  letter. 

The  next  refers  first  to  Professor  Brashear  and  his  work,  and  in- 
dicates the  kind  of  supervision  Mr.  Thaw  exercised  over  the  man  and, 

55 


the  work;  until,  eventually,  the  prediction  there  made,  was  reasonably 
fulfilled.  In  the  same  letter  is  a  reference  to  the  temporary  arrangement 
with  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Washington,  made  by  Mr.  Langley. 
The  next  was  written  nearly  a  year  later,  when  the  offer  was  made, 
which,  if  accepted  by  Mr.  Langley,  would  make  it  necessary  for  him 
to  give  up  the  Observatory  entirely.  One  can  read  between  the  lines, 
the  struggle  between  the  natural  desire  on  the  one  hand  to  hold,  for 
Allegheny,  the  Director  with  whom  he  had  worked  so  long, — and  on 
the  other,  an  unselfish  willingness  to  put  all  personal  feeling  aside,  and 
see  only  the  advancement  of  his  friend. 

\JLetters  to  Professor  S.  P.  Langley.~\ 

Pittsburgh,  June  15,  1881. 
"  *  *  *  I  fullv  realize  how  much  of  means,  and  effort,  may  go 
for  nothing,  in  fishing  for  the  fundamental  facts  of  nature,  in  the 
thorough  manner  in  which  you  must  do  it.  So,  if  this  turns  out  to  be 
a  water-haul — I  shall  be  disappointed  but  not  discouraged,  nor  should 
von  be;  though  I  confess,  the  labor,  exposure  and  anxiety  of  your  un- 
dertaking will  be  enough  to  make  it  very  hard  for  you  to  fail  of  a  high 
reward  of  some  kind  among  the  results  you  will  reach." 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  June  10,  1886. 
"  I  was  much  gratified  at  the  information  given  in  your 
letter  of  the  eighth  instant.  The  Rum  ford  medal,  I  take  it,  falls  to 
you  easily,  and  as  a  matter  of  course;  but  to  find  your  work  adequately 
appreciated  in  the  middle  of  the  Old  World,  by  the  dreadfully  few 
capable  of  sitting  in  judgment  on  you,  must  be  a  great  consolation, 
while  the  announcement  of  that  judgment,  in  such  language,  in  a  pub- 
lication that  is  the  organ  of  the  learned  astronomers  of  learned  Germany, 
settles  the  question. 

"In  such  matters  the  ultimate  reputation  must  rest  on  the 
dictum  of  the  few  who  are  known  to  be  qualified  to  judge.  Around 
that  will  spread  the  name,  as  it  will  be  known  to  the  whole  world  ; 
until  popular  recognition  comes  to  eclipse  and  seemingly  to  supersede 
the  judgment  first  given  by  the  experts.  What  I  mean  is,  that  in  your 
walk  in  life,  mere  popular  appreciation  cannot  found  and  establish  a 
name;  it  may  seem  to  do  so,  but  if  it  lasts,  it  is  because  it  is  an  echo  of 
the  higher  verdict." 

56 


Nov.  4th,  1886. 

«*       *        *       Just  now  I  have 's  work  in  a  very 

tentative  and  plastic  shape.  *  *  *  He  naturally,  yet,  perhaps,  in  a 
very  mild  way,  longs  for  a  commercial  success  adequate  to  maintain 
himself  and  his  work,  and  to  develop  his  plant  and  results  perma- 
nently. This  is  right  and  must  be  attained  in  the  end,  but  for  the 
present,  absolute  excellence,  and  scientific  perfection,  must  be  sought 
and  established,  to  do  which  he  must  be  freely  sustained,  and  yet  not 
allowed  to  feel  dependent.  A  few  years  of  good  health,  and  he  can 
reach  a  position  to  command  commercial  success  by  the  pre-eminence  of 
his  work. 

"For  yourself,  I  am  glad  that  without  losing  you  to  Allegheny,  a 
door  has  bten  opened  for  a  permanent  change  in  your  life,  in  a  direction 
so  much  in  harmony  with  your  pursuits  and  wishes,  and  that  will  also 
give  you  the  control  of  your  avenue  to  the  general  public  and  the 
scientific  world.  You  have  achieved  enough  already  to  have  your 
results  welcomed  by  the  world,  but  it  pleases  me  to  have  you  where  you 
can  give  direction  yourself,  as  to  your  method  of  reaching  the  public, 
instead  of  having  it  depend  upon  official  good  will." 

August  20,  1887. 

"  I  had  seen  the  notice  of  Professor  Baird's  death  this  morning.  I 
think  your  first  care  should  be  for  your  health  ;  should  you  go  to  New 
Mexico,  it  will  give  you  time  to  hear  and  consider. 

"  I  could  not  see  my  way  to  oppose  your  acceptance  of  the  place. 
As  to  conditions,  I  think  you  could  stipulate  for  the  continuance  of  your 
special  work,  or  any  line  of  original  research  you  may  desire.  I  have 
to  put  the  Allegheny  Observatory  out  of  my  mind  when  advising  you 
at  this  crisis.  I  am  concerned  that  it  should  remain  a  fruitful  pioneer 
in  human  knowledge,  but  recognize  that  we  all  do  fade  as  a  leaf,  and 
must  expect  change  in  the  most  stable  and  useful  of  the  things  we 
care  for." 

The  history  of  the  development,  in  this  city,  of  the  manufacture 
of  instruments  of  precision,  for  use  in  astronomical  and  physical  re- 
search, second  to  none  in  the  world,  and  the  upward  progress  of  the  man 

8  57 


whose  brain  evolved  the  successive  steps  by  which  success  was  attained, 
will,  some  day,  no  doubt,  be  written,  after  the  keen  intellect  and  skilled 
hands  are  things  of  the  past.  Meanwhile  it  is  interesting  to  read  in  the 
extracts  from  letters  which  accompanied  more  substantial  encouragement, 
the  strong  and  steady  support  given  by  the  man  whose  memory  only 
remains.  This  was  given  at  the  time  when  such  encouragement  was 
most  needed  and  appreciated. 

The  first  letter  was  written  some  time  after  Mr.  Thaw  became 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Brashear.  The  discovery  of  the  man  and  his  work 
was  a  keen  delight  to  one  whose  interest  in  such  matters  deepened  as 
time  moved  on.  We  can  easily  imagine  the  burst  of  sunlight  such 
words  as  these  brought  with  them  into  the  life  of  one  who  was  so 
hampered  by  his  surroundings,  as  to  make  him  almost  despair  of  any 
real  success.  Mr.  Brashear  calls  attention  to  the  phrase  he  puts  in 
italics,  when  sending  the  letters  for  this  volume. 

[Extracts from  letters  to  Mr.  John  A.   Brashear. .] 

"  My  object  would  be  to  give  you  full  opportunity,  appliances  and 

means,  to  occupy  your  special  powers  and  gifts,  in  such  work  as  you 

have  been  doing  for  the  past  few  years;   looking  to   the  production   of 

the  highest  class  of  scientific  instruments,  and  appliances  of  absolute 

precision,  so  far  as  that  is  possible;  and  with  special  reference  to  such 

devices  as  may  be  in  advance  of  any  previously  known  instruments,  to 

push  forward  the  frontier  of  human  knowledge." 

Notice  the  beautiful  language  1  have  taken  the  liberty  to  underscore,  which  I  can- 
not but  think  occurred  to  Mr.  Thaw  at  the  moment  of  writing.  To  me  it  has  become  a 
motto.  It  made  such  an  impression  upon  my  mind  at  the  time  of  reading  it,  that  it 
seems  as  fresh  as  if  written  but  yesterday.  J.  A.  b. 

The  two  which  follow  need  no  explanation,  other  than  the  com- 
ments Mr.  Brashear  makes  on  each. 

"  My  compensation  comes  to  me  in  the  having  done  somewhat  of 
that  which  a  man  with  my  means  ought  to  do  for  his  kind,  with  the 
exceptional  satisfaction  of  having  the  privilege  of  giving  to  the  race,  so 
far  as  mere  material  means  can  do  it,  the  labors  and  results  which 
might  otherwise  have  been  delayed  or  defeated." 

One  of  his  characteristic  comments  on  his  motive  for  assisting  in  scientific  and 
other  research.  J.  A.  b. 

58 


"Nothing  must  leave  your  place  that  is  not  the  best  of  its  kind. 
Now  keep  that  in  mind;  I  have  to  write  hurriedly,  but  when  I  get  on 
the  subject  of  your  situation  and  prospects,  and  the  possibilities  of  dis- 
tinction and  usefulness  now  open  to  you,  I  feel  like  guarding  you 
against  every  form  of  intrusion,  or  diversion  of  your  powers,  and 
would  keep  you,  like  an  athlete,  in  close  training.  Tell  your  wife  I 
hope  she  will  emphasize  what  I  have  written." 

This  letter  was  written  when  Mr.  Thaw  had  learned  that  I  gave  my  time  almost 
every  clear  evening  to  show  visitors  celestial  objects  with  my  telescopes.  The  first 
sentence  is  worthy  to  be  written  "  among  the  stars,"  but  such  sentences  are  found  scat- 
tered here  and  there  all  through  his  ten  years  of  correspondence.  J.  A.  B. 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  March  1,  1888. 

"  I  return  letters  of  Trowbridge  and  Swasey,  which  are  very 
interesting.  Are  you  sure  that  color  is  a  mere  subjective  function  of 
human  sense?  Is  it  so  any  more  than  is  the  perception  of  form,  or  of 
any  phenomenon  whatever,  meaning  thereby  all  perceptible  things — 
since  we  cannot  know  anything  in  itself? 

"Therefore  may  not  the  objective  conditions  which  excite  the  func- 
tion of  color  in  the  human  subject,  be  themselves  communicated  to, 
and  be  potential  in  the  image  of  the  object,  as  well  as  in  the  object  it- 
self? Therefore,  again,  is  it  unphilosophical — I  will  not  say  unscien- 
tific— to  try  to  obtain  a  photographic  image  that  will  retain  the  power 
of  the  photographed  object  itself,  to  excite  the  function  of  color  per- 
ceptive in  the  human  subject? 

"Your  successful  quick  machine  work,  for  Trowbridge, justifies  the 
expectation  that  you  will  ere  long  produce  achromatic  objectives  with 
similar  speed  and  certainty." 

The  beautiful  discovery  of  Lippman,  while  still  in  its  embyronic  stage,  has  clearly 
demonstrated  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Thaw's  reasoning.  I  have  myself  seen  the  natural 
colors  of  an  object  clearly  brought  out  in  two  photographs — and  the  process  gives  bright 
hopes  of  complete  success  in  color  photography. 

The  last  sentence  of  this  letter  has  also  been  fully  realized  in  our  work,  but  how 
much  we  owe  to  him  who  stood  by  us  through  the  struggles  along  the  difficult  pathways 
that  have  led  to  success,  can  only  be  known  when  the  "  frontier  of  human  knowledge  " 
has  reached  out  from  the  finite  to  the  infinite.  J.  A.  B. 


Through  the  courtesv  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Western  University 

59 


we  are  permitted  to  read  one  letter,  written  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
for  Europe,  in  1880.  Chancellor  Holland,  in  transmitting  the  copy  of 
the  letter  for  insertion  in  this  Memoir,  writes  as  follows  : 

"The  statement  of  Mr.  Thaw's  views  in  regard  to  the  re-organiza- 
tion of  the  University  was,  in  the  main  features  of  its  recommenda- 
tions, adopted  by  the  Committee  of  Re-organization,  and  subsequently 
approved  by  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The  standard  of  the  Preparatory 
Department  was  first  raised,  and  then  finally  in  1889  it  was  altogether 
discontinued  as  a  part  of  the  University.  A  thorough  re-organization 
of  the  Faculty  and  a  complete  re-adjustment  of  methods  of  instruc- 
tion was  affected,  and  new  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
University  were  erected  upon  Observatory  Hill.  The  result  has  been 
of  such  a  character  as  to  wholly  justify  the  wisdom  of  the  suggestions 
contained  in  Mr.  Thaw's  letter." 

Pittsburgh,  April  15th,  1880. 
Rev.  D.  R.  Kerr.  D.  D.. 

Pies' t  P.  T.  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Western  University  of  Pennsylvania 
and  of  Committee  of  Eleven  on  Re-organization. 

Dear  Sir: 

I  am  grieved  to  learn  that  Bishop  Kerfoot's  engagements  will  not 
permit  him  to  act  as  Chairman,  or  to  serve  on  the  "Committee  of  Eleven." 
I  earnestly  ask  you  to  retain  your  ex-officio  place  as  Chairman  of  that 
Committee,  and  permit  no  avoidable  delay  in  its  work. 

As  I  am  not  a  member  of  it,  and  will  be  absent  a  long  time  after 
May  1st,  I  address  this  to  you  to  give  briefly  my  views  upon  the  present 
situation  of  the  University,  not  to  ask  that  any  special  weight  shall  be 
given  to  them,  but  simply  that  the  views  of  the  mover  of  the  resolu- 
tions under  which  your  Committee  acts  may  not  be  unknown. 

The  course  of  the  Board  in  giving  the  notice  provided  for  by  its 
action  in  June,  1879,  and  authorizing  your  Committee  to  report  a  plan 
of  re-organization,  leaves  it  with  your  Committee  to  suggest  great  or 
little  changes,  and  to  be  radical  or  conservative  in  its  recommendations, 
and  imposes  no  conditions,  except  that  the  cost  shall  come  within  the 
probable  income  of  the  institution. 

I  need  hardly  remind  the  Committee  how  groundless  is  the  com- 
mon report  that  the  recent  action  of  the  Board  arose  out  of  dissensions 

60 


between  members  of  the  Faculty,  or  out  of  any  of  the  minor  questions 
brought  before  the  Board.  The  duty  and  necessity  of  avoiding  debts 
and  keeping  the  Endowment  Funds  intact  was  perhaps  the  immediate 
and  imperative  cause  for  decisive  action,  but  the  true  reason  why  the 
Board  faced  the  painful  and  anxious  duty  of  re-organizing  the  Fac- 
ulty was,  that  it  had  gradually,  and  against  long  resistance  to  an  unwel- 
come conviction,  been  forced  to  believe  that  the  institution  had  become 
so  faulty  in  its  methods  and  results  that  members  could  no  longer  shut 
their  eyes  to  the  fact,  nor  give  further  consent  by  silence.  While  this 
is  so,  no  charge  of  incompetency  or  neglect  is  made  against  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Faculty.  The  defects  of  to-day  result  from  the  incompati- 
bility of  the  too  comprehensive  undertakings  of  the  University  in  its 
organization  and  curricula,  with  the  material  the  community  supplied 
as  students.  I  think  that  I  am  not  far  wrong  in  saying  that  the  present 
Faculty  and  facilities  of  the  University  could  furnish  fair  college  in- 
struction for  the  present  total  number  of  students,  if  they  were  all 
reasonably  mature,  say  from  sixteen  to  twenty-two  years  old,  and  the 
studies,  the  students,  and  the  present  teachers  were  adjusted  to  each 
other  under  moderate  but  real,  college  standards  and  regulations.  But 
this  community  does  not  supply  such  a  body  of  students.  Whether  so 
many  young  men  would  go  from  here  to  colleges  elsewhere,  if  the  Uni- 
versity were  all  that  it  ought  to  be,  I  cannot  say;  but,  as  it  stands  to- 
day, we  find  that  in  order  to  gather  students  the  organization  of  the 
University  reaches  down  through  its  Preparatory  Department  to  mere 
children,  and  provides  for  instruction  so  elementary  as  to  make  it  a 
competitor  with  the  common  schools,  while  in  its  higher  departments, 
(which,  if  all  could  be  realized  that  has  been  attempted,  would  em- 
brace schools  of  law,  medicine,  and  divinity.)  it  provides  for  advanced 
studies  and  for  special  scientific  training  of  a  high  order. 

What  shall  be  done  to  remedy  defects  and  give  to  the  community 
the  best  college  the  finances  of  the  institution  can  maintain,  and  the 
community  fill  with  sufficiently  mature  students  in  every  year?  Plainly 
the  Preparatory  Department  must  be  shrunken  up  into  an  Academy, 
giving  one  year's  effective  preparatory  instruction  to  students,  whose 
qualifications  for  admission  shall  be  such  as  to  bring  them  easily  within 
one  year's  preparation  for  the  Freshman  Class,  under  a  Freshman 
standard  of  fair  college  severity,  rigidly   enforced.     But  such  a  hard- 

61 


ening  of  the  Preparatory  Department  will  greatly  diminish  its  revenues, 
and  so  expose  the  reorganization  that  may  be  adopted  to  the  risk  of 
exceeding  the  income  of  the  University  at  the  close  of  the  first  year. 
This  is  a  serious  point,  but  in  my  opinion  the  risk  must  be  ac- 
cepted. 

If  the  Committee  on  mature  deliberation  decides  to  begin  in  this 
way,  and  to  limit  the  institution  in  its  higher  aims  to  such  methods 
and  studies  as  will  give  a  good  college  education,  it  seems  to  me  the 
outline  within  which  an  economical  and  efficient  reorganization  might 
be  made  will  have  been  reached.  After  that,  what  number  of  instruc- 
tors should  be  employed,  and  how  the  new  Faculty  should  be  organ- 
ized and  paid,  would  become  questions  of  comparatively  easy  solution. 

Without  some  such  fundamental  ideas,  as  to  what  new  basis  should 
be  adopted  for  the  reorganization,  I  do  not  see  how  any  real  progress 
can  be  made  in  your  work.  The  action  of  the  Board  leaves  it  prac- 
ticable to  reappoint  professors  and  others  for  the  coming  single  year 
at  some  reduction  of  pay,  as  a  temporary  measure,  in  order  to  a 
more  deliberate  and  thorough  reorganization  to  be  acted  upon  during 
next  year,  and  it  may  be  found  advisable  to  resort  to  some  such 
temporizing  device,  but  I  shall  be  sorry  if  this  occasion  for  earnest, 
sincere,  and  kindly  discussion  for  the  best  interests  of  the  University 
and  of  the  youth  of  this  community,  who,  in  after  years,  may  be  ex- 
pected to  depend  upon  it  for  their  sound  education,  is  allowed  to  pass 
unimproved,  and  the  monotonous  drift  of  the  University  in  the  wrong 
direction  is  left  to  move  on  to  the  inevitable  end. 

There  are  no  endowments  of  particular  professorships  which  yield 
the  amounts  now  paid  as  salaries  to  the  professors,  and  the  duty  of  the 
Board  to  the  several  partial  endowments  can  very  easily  be  performed 
in  the  modified  organization  now  required. 

The  relation  between  the  University  and  the  Observatory  is  one  of 
consolidation  under  a  covenant  that  requires  the  maintenance  of  the 
Observatory  on  a  working  basis.  The  Observatory  brought  a  large 
property,  liberal  equipments,  and  an  endowment  of  $20,000  for  salary, 
yielding  $1400  per  year  at  the  time  of  consolidation.  Since  then  the 
general  endowment  gift  included  a  further  provision  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  Observatory  and  for  the  employment  of  the  Director  in 
works    of  original    research,   and  practically    exempt    from    duties    of 

62 


instruction,  but  the  Director  would  be  glad  to  give  to  the  department 
of  instruction  a  reasonable  share  of  his  time,  if  provision  were  made 
for  him  to  lecture. 

I  trust  the  Committee  will  pardon  my  unasked  presentation  of 
my  views  upon  the  subject  in  their  hands.  I  will  be  content,  though 
none  of  its  suggestions  be  carried  out,  if  only  a  good  start  is  made  in 
the  work  of  a  thorough  effort  to  make  the  institution  the  best  possible 
under  all  the  circumstances  that  surround  it. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

William  Thaw. 


And  now  with  a  few  brief  extracts  from  family  letters,  this  Mem- 
oir will  close.  It  has  given  only  glimpses  here  and  there  of  this  active 
life.  The  selections  here  given  are  chosen  mainly  to  show  his  powers 
of  close  observation,  and  rapid  description.  His  love  for  home  and 
country  led  him  to  write  almost  daily  to  those  nearest  to  him,  and  the 
letters  are  so  interwoven  with  thoughts  of,  and  for,  those  to  whom  he 
wrote,  that  it  was  difficult  to  find  any  long  passages  to  suit  the  pur- 
pose. Some  were  written  by  a  manifold  process,  to  serve  also  as  a 
journal. 

[Extracts  from  letters  to  Mrs.   Thazv^\ 

Milan,  Italy,  June  17,  1880. 
"  This  city,  Milan,  is  an  elegant  modern  one,  with  wide  streets, 
reasonably  straight;  fine  buildings  and  its  beautiful  cathedral.  St. 
Peter's,  Rome,  is  all  inside,  the  exterior  being  unattractive,  saving  the 
dome,  and  that  you  can't  see  when  near  the  church,  but  Milan  Cathe- 
dral, without  being  poor  inside,  is  exteriorly  a  frozen  poem,  grand  and 
beautiful,  a  marvel  of  exquisite  detail — yet  a  simple  and  imposing 
whole.  *  *  *  But  the  letters  from  home  were  what  made  Milan 
beautiful  to  us,  and  we  are  just  through  our  first  reading.  *        *        *  " 

Bellagio,  Lake  Como,  Italy,  June  20,  1880. 

"  I  have  written  you,  in  ink,  several  letters  from  Venice  and  Milan, 
the  last  just  after  getting  your  letter  of  June  first,  and   Mr.  Semple's 

63 


of  June  third.  We  had  intended  staying  longer  in  Milan,  but  it  became 
warm,  and,  after  being  there  forty-eight  hours,  we  decided  Saturday 
noon  to  take  the  train  for  Como  (thirty  miles)  at  4.50  p.  m.,  and  at 
Como,  6  p.  M.;  took  a  little  steamer  for  this  place.  Nobody  can 
describe  this  lake — the  mountains  all  along  both  sides  of  it  are  so  high 
that  they  dwarf  the  lake,  and  one  begins  to  think  it  like  the  Hudson  at 
the  Highlands;  but  when  you  come  to  examine  the  innumerable  villas 
and  villages  dotting  the  water's  margin  and  sprinkled  everywhere  over 
the  mountains'  sides,  except  near  their  tops,  you  perceive  that  the  dis- 
tance is  so  great  that  the  eye  hardly  distinguishes  separate  houses  where 
there  is  a  group  of  them ;  and  gradually  you  come  to  realize  that  these 
mountains  are  from  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half  perpendicularly  high 
above  the  level  of  the  lake,  while  the  Hudson  Highlands  are  only 
from  a  fourth  to  a  third  of  a  mile  high,  and  so  the  width  of  the  lake 
and  the  extent  of  the  views  along  its  length,  have  all  to  be  widened 
out  correspondingly  in  one's  thought,  to  take  in  the  grandeur  as  well  as 
the  beauty  of  the  scene.  The  water  is  a  translucent,  light  emerald  green, 
so  that  you  see  clear  under  the  small  boats  passing,  and  their  shadows 
under  water  give  out  its  color.  We  have  the  most  beautiful  and  com- 
fortable quarters  conceivable  ;  second-story  rooms,  with  balconies  look- 
ing up  and  down  and  across  the  lake.  The  weather  is  cloudy,  and  it 
rained  this  morning,  but  the  endless  variety  of  cloud-forms  and  cloud- 
changes  going  on  around  the  upper  half  of  the  mountains,  if  possible, 
enhance  the  beauty  of  the  whole.  We  had  a  very  good  English  Epis- 
copal service  in  a  beautiful  little  room  with  windows  looking  out  on 
the  lake.  *  *  *  We  shall  make  excursions  from  here  for  some 
days,  and  then  go  into  the  High  Alps  regions.  The  boys  would  like  to 
ride  back  and  forth  over  every  pass  that  crosses  the  Alps,  but  I  want 
them  to  take  the  Simplon,  from  these  lakes  to  Erieg  and  Visp,  and 
after  we  have  done  justice  to  Zermatt  and  Chamouny,  they  may  expend 
any  remaining  Alpine  enthusiasm  upon  as  much  Swiss  travelling,  and 
as  many  Swiss  hotels  as  they  wish.  I  take  back  what  I  said  of  Milan 
Cathedral.  I  place  that  one  wonderful  and  beautiful  monument  of 
human  art  and  power  in  a  niche  by  itself.  We  felt  inside  of  it,  as 
never  before,  how  God's  temples  not  made  with  hands,  the  grand  aisles 
of  the  mightiest  forests,  the  high  overarching  tracery  of  living  foliage 
— were  the  architypes  toward  which  the  great  Gothic  church  builders 

64 


worked.  The  absence  of  paintings,  the  undistracted  way  in  which 
majesty  of  form  at  once  subdues  and  elevates  one  in  this  marble  forest 
of  chiselled  columns,  made  our  experience  in  Milan  Cathedral  wholly 
unlike  that  we  felt  in  St.  Peter's.  It  was  simpler,  grander,  and  far 
lovelier.  The  colored  windows  of  Milan  are  of  themselves  a  great 
sight,  and  will  be,  when  completed,  the  one  thing  now  lacking  to  make 
the  interior  perfect.  The  columns  are  about  twelve  feet  in  diameter 
and  over  one  hundred  feet  high.  The  centre  of  the  ceiling  in  the  nave 
is  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  feet,  but  the  device  which  gives  such  ex- 
ceptional power  to  the  general  impression  made  by  the  interior  is,  that 
the  outer  columns  of  the  aisles,  next  to  the  nave,  are  carried  up  to  the 
same  height  as  the  nave  columns,  and,  although  the  ceilings  of  these 
aisles  do  not  rise  to  the  full  height  of  the  nave  ceiling,  they  come  near 
it,  and  so  these  inside  aisles  effect  one  even  more  than  the  nave — being 
so  high,  yet  narrower,  and  running  unbroken  the  whole  length  of  the 
cathedral;  while  the  nave  is  interrupted  by  the  high  altar,  which,  how- 
ever, has  been  kept  down  so  as  to  let  the  magnificent  upper  half  of  the 
great  central  window,  at  the  east  end,  show  the  whole  length,  to  the 
west  end  doors.  We  were  more  interested  in  the  ruins  of  "The  Last 
Supper"  fresco  than  we  expected.  It  is  in  better  preservation  than  we 
supposed — at  least,  it  retained  what  I  did  not  suppose  was  possible  in 
a  wall  painting  that  has  passed  through  years  of  neglect, — in  a  place 
that,  for  a  time  at  least,  was  used  for  a  cavalry  stable :  namely,  the 
instant  and  unquestioned  power  to  tell  you  that  it  was  a  supremely  good 
painting,  by  one  who  by  right  stood  among  the  very  few  great  artists 
and  great  universal  geniuses  of  all  time.  Indeed,  I  have  some  sus- 
picion that  the  beauty  and  great  power  of  the  thing  comes,  in  part,  out 
of  its  very  ruin.  Still  the  forms  are  all  there,  and  the  expression  of 
each  figure  easily  determined,  with  enough  of  the  color,  to  complete 
the  suggestiveness  of  this  precious  old  relic." 

Paris,  Saturday  night,  August  10,  1889. 

"It  is  just  a  month  since  I  saw  you,  and  it  seems  like  a  much 
longer  time.  With  only  a  week  taken  by  the  sea  voyage,  and  in  such  a 
ship  as  the  '  City  of  Paris,'  a  trip  to  Europe  is  no  longer  a  serious 
thing  to  undertake.  *       *       *       * " 

"  I  continue  well,  and  can  bear  a  two  hours'  stand  and  walk  now 

9  65 


without  serious  fatigue.  Yesterday  we  gave  the  Louvre  another  visit, 
and  to-day  we  spent  in  a  landau  drive  to  Versailles  and  back,  which  is  a 
great  improvement  on  going  by  rail.  We  went  by  way  of  Sevres,  a 
long  straggling  town,  but  did  not  try  to  see  the  potteries  there.  Re- 
turning, we  came  by  St.  Cloud  and  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  The  weather 
was  fine,  and  I  went  through  the  great  and  little  Trianons,  which  I 
only  viewed  externally  in  1880,  and  found  much  to  interest  me  about 
the  first  Napoleon  and  also  about  Marie  Antoinette.  We  then  went 
through  Versailles  proper,  and  saw  all  the  pictures  and  curiosities. 
Before  returning  we  lunched  at  a  restaurant,  and  I  found  the  whole 
twenty-two  miles'  drive  restful,  in  the  easy  carriage,  and  over  good 
roads.  I  take  a  turn  at  the  Exposition  at  intervals  of  a  day  or  two, 
for,  like  our  1876  Centennial,  it  is  beyond  human  power  to  see  it  all." 

\_Lettcr  to  his  Son  Edward.~\ 
Hotel  de  Rivoli,  Paris,  France,  Monday,  Aug.  12,  1889. 

"  *  *  *  *  I  wrote  to  your  mother  on  Saturday,  and  so 
shall  tell  how  I  spent  Sunday.  It  was  a  bright,  beautiful,  cool  day, 
with  two  heavy  showers  here,  at  three  and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. At  11  a.m.  I  went  to  the  English  Church — it  is  larger  than 
Trinity  Church,  Pittsburgh,  and  very  light  and  cheerful,  and  the  con- 
gregation quite  filled  it.  There  was  a  very  fine  boy-choir,  and  all  the 
responses  were  chanted.  However  the  excellent  service  of  worship 
which  the  common  prayerbook  gives,  makes  it  real  worship,  and, 
altogether,  it  is  a  great  gain  to  have  such  churches  in  Paris  for  our 
wandering  and  resident  fellow  Americans. 

"  To-day  I  am  going  to  work  a  few  hours  at  the  Exposition  after  an 
interval  since  Thursday.  I  now  go  to  see  some  particular  parts  which  I 
happened  to  see  last  Monday,  as  you  can  never  get  through,  nor  remem- 
ber much,  if  you  simply  wander  through  the  interminable  halls  and 
galleries  and  nooks.  The  display  of  habitations  and  occupations  of 
savage  or  barbarous  people  is  among  the  most  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive, for  one  can  see  just  how  people  in  Central  Africa,  Australia,  or  the 
Pacific  Islands,  eat,  live  and  work;  and  also  their  musical  instruments. 
The  aborigines  of  Australia,  who  used  to  be  called  Bushmen,  seem  to 
be  more  entirely  savage  and  animal-like  in  their  life  and  surroundings 

66 


than  any  others,  the  Congo  tribes  of  Africa  being  comparatively  civil- 
ized in  comparison. 

The  display  of  oil  paintings  of  all  nations  is  enough  to  keep  a 
person  interested  in  such  things  busy  for  a  year.  One  can  do  little 
more  than  glance  at  them,  and  stop  now  and  then  before  something 
that  catches  the  eye  or  has  been  mentioned  as  specially  excellent.    *  " 


In  his  last  letter  home,  one  largely  filled  with  his  own  plans  for 
travel,  and  advice  in  reference  to  affairs  at  home,  this  sentence  occurs, 
"  I  think  I  shall  go  to  Brussels  and  the  Hague,  the  end  of  this  week,  or 
the  following  Monday,  August  19th."  It  was  not  left  for  him  to  de- 
cide.    On  the  morning  of  the  17th  he  was  called  home. 

Lyndhurst,  Pittsburgh,  E.  E. 
October  19,  1891. 


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